
MRS. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BAKER 



Guest of honor at the Centennial Celebration of the 
First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Va. 



Ws>t 

jf tr£t ^re^tiptertan Cfmrcf) 

Staunton, ^trgmta 



MATERIAL GATHERED AND ARRANGED 
ARISTA HOGE 



Press of CALD WELL-SITES COMPANY 

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA 
1908 



% 4 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

MAR 15 \m 

Copyritnt Entry 
CUSS Cfe XXc, No, 
COPY B. 



Copyright 1909 by 
CHARLES RUSSELL CALDWELL 
Published March, 1909 



LC Control Number 

ill 

tmp96 029084 




The FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

STAUNTON, VIRGINIA 



CHAPTER I 

THE PEOPLE OF BEVERLEY MANOR, IN THE BACK 
PARTS OF VIRGINIA 

THE original settlers of Augusta County were natives 
of the Province of Ulster, Ireland, of Scotch 
decent, and therefore they and their descendants 
are called ' ■ Scotch-Irish. ' ' For a number of years a very 
few people of any other race came to the Valley. They 
generally landed on the Delaware river, and gradually 
pushed their way up the Valley, through the wilderness. 
They did not come to build towns, but to acquire lands and 
open up farms, and hence all the towns in the Valley are 
of comparatively recent date. No such place as Staunton 
was known until the courthouse was located here in 1745, 
at least thirteen years after the surrounding country was 
quite thickly settled. 

With scarcely an exception, the immigrants were 
Presbyterians, as far as they professed any religion at all. 
Soon after they provided shelters for their families, they 
erected log houses in which to meet for the worship of God, 
first at Tinkling Spring and near the site of the present 
Stone Church. The latter was known from early times as 
' ' Augusta Church. " The first settled minister of the two 
congregations mentioned was the Rev. John Craig. The 
Presbyterians at and near Staunton were connected with 
Tinkling Spring. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



In 1737 ' ' a supplication" was laid before the Presbytery 
of Donegal, in Pennsylvania, "from the people of Bever- 
ley Manor, in the back parts of Virginia," requesting 
ministerial supplies. The request could not be granted 
immediately ; but in the next year the Rev. James Ander- 
son, sent by the Synod of Philadelphia, visited the settle- 
ment, and in 1738 preached the first regular sermon ever 
delivered in this section of the country at the home of John 
Lewis. 

The Presbyterians of Augusta continued their ' ' sup- 
plication ' ' to the Presbytery of Donegal for a pastor to 
reside among them. In 1739 they first applied for the 
services of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, who came and 
preached for a time. Next they presented a call to the 
Rev. John Craig. 

Mr. Craig was born in 1709, in county Antrim, Ireland, 
and was educated at Edinburgh. He landed at Newcastle, 
upon the Delaware, August 17, 1734, and was licensed by 
the Presbytery to preach, in 1737. The date of his arrival 
here is somewhat uncertain. In a narrative written by 
him, towards the close of his life, he says : "Being invited 
by Presbytery, I entered on trials, and w T as licensed by the 
Presbytery of Donegal, 1737. I was sent to a new settle- 
ment in Virginia of our own country people, near 300 miles 
distant. " This would seem to imply that he came in 1737, 
or soon thereafter ; but from the fact that the people 
applied for Mr. Thompson in 1739 and for Mr. Craig after- 
wards, the latter could not have come till several years 
after his licensure. The minute of the Presbytery, in 
September, 1740, is as follows : "Robert Doak and Daniel 
Dennison, from Virginia, declared in the name of the con- 
gregation of Shenandoah their adhesion to the call for- 
merly presented to Mr. Craig, " and on the next day he was 
"set apart for the work of the gospel ministry in the south 
part of Beverley's Manor." He, therefore, could hardly 
have come here before September, 1740, unless, possibly 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



on a visit in 1739, or early in 1740 ; and other circumstances 
indicate that he arrived about the first of October, 1740. 
On February 26, 1741, he appeared at Orange County 
Court (the Court of Augusta County not having opened) 
and qualified according to law to officiate as a dissenting 
minister. 

Mr. Craig's residence was on Lewis' Creek, about four 
miles northeast of Staunton. As is generally known, he 
was the founder of the two congregations of Tinkling 
Spring and Augusta, and for some years ministered to 
both. His parish was about thirty miles long and thirty 
miles broad. Referring to the country to which he had 
come, he says : " The place was a new settlement, without 
a place of worship, or any church order, a wilderness in 
the proper sense, and a few Christian settlers in it, with 
numbers of the heathens traveling among us, but gener- 
ally civil, though some persons were murdered by them 
about that time. They march about in small companies 
from fifteen to twenty, sometimes more or less. They must 
be supplied at every house they call at with victuals, or they 
become their own stewards and cooks and spare nothing 
they choose to eat and drink." 

It is said that Mr. Craig generally walked the five miles 
from his residence to the church. His morning service 
continued from 10 o'clock till after 12. The afternoon 
service lasted from 1 o'clock till sunset, and it was some- 
times so late at the close that the clerk found it difficult 
to read the last psalm. Many of the people came long dis- 
tances, and had to cross Middle River, coming and going, 
where the ford was somewhat unsafe. They petitioned 
the preacher to dismiss them at an earlier hour, so that 
they might make the crossing by daylight ; but he would 
not consent. His only printed sermon is from second 
Samuel, XXIII: 5— " Although my house be not so with 
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, 
ordered in all things, and sure ; for this is all my salvation, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. " 
Being in the old-fashioned " exhaustive method," it con- 
tains fifty-five divisions and sub-divisions. 

Mr. Craig was succeeded at Augusta Church by the 
Rev. William Wilson, and at Tinkling Spring by the Rev. 
Dr. James Waddell. The latter came to Augusta from 
Lancaster county, in May, 1776, and resided till 1784 on 
his plantation, called Springhill, south of Waynesboro. 
He preached occasionly in Staunton, but whether in the 
courthouse or the Parish Church, otherwise vacant and 
unused, is not known. At the close of the war, he was 
formally invited by people living in Staunton to officiate 
regularly there ; but, having determined to remove east of 
the Blue Ridge, he declined the call. His successor at 
Tinkling Spring was the Rev. John McCue, who also 
preached now and then, if not at stated intervals, in 
Staunton. 

"THE BLIND PREACHER" 
The following graphic account of the pulpit eloquence 
and forensic power of the Reverend James Waddell, D. 
D., is given by William Wirt, in "The British Spy." Mr. 
Wirt's distinction as a writer is largely based upon this 
famous passage, although, among his other literary works, 
he was the author of a "Life of Patrick Henry." 

It was one Sunday, as I traveled through the County of Orange, 
that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a ruinous, old 
wooden house, in the forest, not far from the road side. Having 
frequently seen such objects before, in travelling through these 
states, I had no difficulty in understanding that this was a place of 
religious worship. 

Devotion alone should have stopped me, to join in the duties of 
the congregation; but I must confess, that curiosity, to hear the 
preacher of such a wilderness, was not the least of my motives. On 
entering, I was struck with his preternatural appearance; he was a 
tall and very spare old man, his head, which was covered with a white 
linen cap, his shrivelled hands, and his voice, were all shaking under 
the influence of a palsy, and a few moments ascertained to me that 
he was perfectly blind. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The first emotions which touched my breast, were those of 
mingled pity and veneration. But ah! sacred God! how soon were all 
my feelings changed! The lips of Plato were never more worthy of a 
prognostic swarm of bees, than were the lips of this holy man! It 
was a day of the administration of the sacrament, and his subject, of 
course, was the passion of our Saviour. I had heard the subject 
handled a thousand times; I had thought it exhausted long ago. Little 
did I suppose, that in the wild woods of America, I was to meet with a 
man whose eloquence would give to this topic a new and more sub- 
lime pathos, than I had ever before witnessed. 

As he descended from the pulpit, to distribute the mystic symbols, 
there was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in his air and 
manner which made my blood run cold, and my whole frame shiver. 

He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour; his trial 
before Pilate, his ascent up Calvary, his crucifixion, and his death. I 
knew the whole history, but never, until then, had I heard the cir- 
cumstances so selected, so arranged, so coloured! It was all new: 
and I seemed to have heard it for the first time in my life. His 
enunciation was so deliberate, that his voice trembled on every syllable, 
and every heart in the assembly trembled in unison. His peculiar 
phrases had that force of description that the original scene appeared 
to be, at that moment, acting before our eyes. We saw the very 
faces of the Jews: the staring, frightful distortions of malice and 
rage. We saw the buffet; my soul kindled with a flame of indigna- 
tion; and my hands were involuntarily and convulsively clinched. 

But when he came to touch on the patience, the forgiving meek- 
ness of our Saviour; when he drew, to the life, his blessed eyes 
streaming in tears to heaven; his voice breathing to God a soft and 
gentle prayer of pardon on his enemies, ''Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do"— the voice of the preacher, which had 
all along faltered, grew fainter and fainter, until his utterance being 
entirely obstructed by the force of his feelings, he raised his handker- 
chief to his eyes, and burst into a loud and irrepressible flood of grief. 
The effect is inconceivable. The whole house resounded with the 
mingled groans, and sobs, and shrieks of the congregation. 

It was sometime before the tumult had subsided, so far as to 
permit him to proceed. Indeed, judging by the usual, but fallacious 
standard of my own weakness, I began to be very uneasy for the situa- 
tion of the preacher. For I could not conceive, how he would be able 
to let his audience down from the height to which he had wound them, 
without impairing the solemnity and dignity of his subject, or perhaps 
shocking them by the abruptness of the fall. But — no; the descent 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



was as beautiful and sublime, as the elevation had been rapid and 
enthusiastic. 

The first sentence, with which he broke the awful silence was a 
quotation from Rousseau, "Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus 
Christ, like a God!" 

1 despair of giving you any idea of the effect produced by this 
short sentence, unless you could perfectly conceive the whole manner 
of the man, as well as the peculiar crisis in the discourse. Never 
before, did I completely understand what Demosthenes meant by 
laying such stress on delivery. You are to bring before you the 
venerable figure of the preacher; his blindness, constantly recalling 
to your recollection old Homer, Ossian and Milton, and associating 
with his performance, the melancholy grandeur of their geniuses; you 
are to imagine that you hear his slow, solemn, well-accented enuncia- 
tion, and his voice of affecting, trembling melody, you are to remember 
the pitch of passion and enthusiasm to which the congregation were 
raised; and then, the few minutes of portentous, death-like silence 
which reigned throughout the house; the preacher removing his white 
handkerchief from his aged face, (even yet wet from the recent tor- 
rent of his tears) and slowly stretching forth the palsied hand which 
holds it, begins the sentence, "Socrates died like a philosopher"— 
then pausing, raising his other hand, pressing them both clasped 
together, with warmth and energy to his breast, lifting his "sightless 
balls" to heaven, and pouring his whole soul into his tremulous voice 
— "but Jesus Christ— like a God!" If he had been indeed and in truth 
an angel of light, the effect could scarcely have been more divine. 

Whatever I had been able to conceive of the sublimity of 
Massillon, or the force of Bourdaloue, had fallen far short of the 
power which I felt from the delivery of this simple sentence. The 
blood, which just before had rushed in a hurricane upon my brain, 
and, in the violence and agony of my feelings, had held my whole 
system in suspense, now ran back into my heart, with a sensation 
which I cannot describe— a kind of shuddering, delicious horror! The 
paroxysm of blended pity and indignation, to which I had been trans- 
ported, subsided into the deepest self-abasement, humility and adora- 
tion. I had just been lacerated and dissolved by sympathy, for our 
Saviour as a fellow creature; but now, with fear and trembling, I 
adored him as— "a God!" 

If this description give you the impression, that this incomparable 
minister had anything of shallow, theatrical trick in his manner, it 
does him great injustice. I have never seen, in any other orator, 
such a union of simplicity and majesty. He has not a gesture, an 
attitude or an accent, to which he does not seem forced, by the senti- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



ment which he is expressing. His mind is too serious, too earnest, 
too solicitous, and, at the same time, too dignified, to stoop to artifice. 
Although as far removed from ostentation as a man can be, yet it is 
clear from the train, the style and substance of his thoughts, that he 
is, not only a very polite scholar, but a man of extensive and pro- 
found erudition. I was forcibly struck with a short, yet beautiful 
character which he drew of our learned and amiable countryman, Sir 
Hobert Boyle: he spoke of him as if "his noble minol had, even 
before death, divested herself of all influence from his frail taber- 
nacle of flesh;" and called him, in his peculiarly emphatic and im- 
pressive manner, "a pure intelligence: the link between men and 
angels." 

This man has been before my imagination almost ever since. A 
thousand times, as I rode along. I dropped the reins of my bridle, 
stretched forth my hand, and tried to imitate his quotation from 
Rousseau; a thousand times I abandoned the attempt in despair, and 
felt persuaded that his peculiar manner and power arose from an 
energy of soul, which nature could give, but which no human being 
could justly copy. In short, he seems to be altogether a being of a 
former age, or of a totally different nature from the rest of men. As 
I recall, at this moment, several of his awfully striking attitudes, 
the chilling tide, with which my blood begins to pour along my arteries, 
reminds me of the emotions produced by the first sight of Gray's 
introductory picture of his bard: 

' 'On a rock, whose haughty brow, 

Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, 
Robed in the sable garb of woe, 

With haggard eyes the poet stood; 
(Loose his beard and hoary hair 

Streamed, like a meteor, to the troubled air:) 
And with a poet's hand and prophet's fire, 

Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre." 

Guess my surprise, when on my arrival at Richmond, and mention- 
ing the name of this man, I found not one person who had ever 
before heard of James Waddell! Is it not strange, that such a genius 
as this, so accomplished a scholar, so divine an orator, should be per- 
mitted to languish and die in obscurity, within eighty miles of the 
metropolis of Virginia? To me it is a conclusive argument, either 
that the Virginians have no taste for the highest strains of the most 
sublime oratory, or that they are destitute ^f a much more important 
quality, the love of genuine and exalted religion. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



A tablet, containing the following inscription, in com- 
memoration of the Rev. James Waddell, was erected in 
the Courthouse of Lancaster County, Virginia, in 1905: 

IN MEMORIAM 
Rev. James Waddell, D. D. 
Son of Thomas and Janet Waddell, of the County Down, Ireland. Born 
on the Atlantic Ocean, in 1739, when his parents emigrated to 
America. Died in Lousia County, Virginia, Sept. 17, 1805. 

Licensed as a Probationer April 2, 1741, by the old Presbytery 
of Hanover. 

Resided on Corratoman River, Lancaster County, Virginia, in 1762, 
and had three preaching places, viz: Lancaster C. H., the Forest Meet- 
inghouse, and the Northumberland Meetinghouse. 

In 1768 married Mary Gordon, daughter of Col. James Gordon, of 
Lancaster County, an elder in the church, and a member of the Court, 
and the maternal grandfather of Gen. William F. Gordon, of 
Albemarle. 

Taught Meriwether Lewis and Governor James Barbour. 

Was at one time minister of the Tinkling Spring Church, Augusta 
Co., Va., and as a patriot, in the Revolution, addressed Tate's Com- 
pany at Midway, Rockbridge County, Virginia. 

Immortalized in Wirt's British Spy, when in a sermon of thrilling 
oratory and magic eloquence on the passion of our Saviour, he electri- 
fied his hearers by the beautiful and sublime quotation from Rousseau: 
"Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ like a God." 

This tablet is presented to Lancaster County through the Circuit 
Court, by Capt. Geo, P. Squires, Ocran, Lancaster, County, Virginia. 



REV. JOHN McCUE 
Rev. John McCue graduated at Liberty Hall, studied 
Theology under the blind preacher and succeeded him as 
pastor at Tinkling Spring. He founded the Church at 
Lewisburg. Dr. Mcllhaney was his immediate successor 
there. He was the first man, who ever, as an ordained min- 
ister, preached the Gospel in the Valley of the Mississippi. 
He traveled on horseback to the meetings of the Synod of 
Philadelphia. He was present at the first meeting of Lex- 
ington Presbytery, which was held at Timber Ridge, Rock- 
bridge County, Virginia, September 26, 1786 ; and was 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Moderator of six of its stated meetings, between the years 
1790 and 1817. 

In the records of Staunton Lodge No. 13 A. F. & A. 
M. we find that the Rev. Jno. McCue preached a sermon 
to the Craft, Dec. 27, 1791. In 1792 he was made a 
Mason and became a member of the Lodge and there- 
after preached special sermons at their celebrations to 
their satisfaction, as evidenced by the following resolu- 
tion adopted June 24, 1793: ' 'Ordered that Brothers, 
Jas. Perry, Humphreys, Bowyer, O'Neil, Christian and 
Kinney form a committee to meet at the Hall on Thurs- 
day next to draw up a Bill of thanks to the Rev. Jno. 
McCue for his truly pertinent and Masonic sermon de- 
livered this day and that they fix upon a premium to be 
paid him out of the funds for the same not exceeding ten 
dollars/ ' On June 27, $8.00 was appropriated for this 
purpose. Finally on Sept. 2.1, 1818 we, find the following 
resolution : 

Resolved, Unanimously, that the Church of Christ, society at large 
and the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons in particular, have 
suffered and incalculable loss in the death of our much esteemed and 
highly respected friend and brother, Rev. Jno. McCue, and that in 
commemoration of departed worth, the members of this Lodge will 
wear crepe on their left arm for thirty days, and that a copy of these 
resolutions be published for two weeks in the " Republican Farmer," 
of Staunton. 

His tombstone records his death on the Sabbath morn- 
ing of September 20, 1818, in his 66th year ; and bears the 
further testimony that ' ' having served his generation in 
dignified and faithful discharge of all relative duties, he 
was suddenly removed from labor to rest." It contains 
the additional inscription that * ' his relations, numerous 
friends, and the church at large deplore the loss of his 
talent/ erudition, eloquence, and evangelical ministrations, 
especially the Church of Tinkling Spring, amongst whom 
he had arduously labored in the ministry for twenty-seven 
years." 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Liberty Hall, where Rev. John McCue graduated, was 
the successor of a school founded by the first settlers of 
Augusta County, about fifteen miles southwest of Staunton, 
and called the Augusta Academy. After several times 
changing its name and location, it became in 1780, Liberty 
Hall, near Lexington. In 1782 it was incorporated as 
' ' Liberty Hall Academy' ' ; and two years later Gen. Wash- 
ington endowed it with a number of shares in a canal 
company, given him by the Legislature of Virginia, in 
recognition of patriotic services. In 1798 it became Wash- 
ington Academy, and afterwards Washington College and 
Washington and Lee University. 




[12] 



CHAPTER II 



A SERMON BY REV. A. M. FRASER, D. D., PREACHED AT 
THE DEDICATION OF A NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP 
FOR HIS NATIVE CHURCH IN SUMTER, S. C. 



[ The local application in this sermon was prepared for this volume as 
a substitute for that in the original sermon, which referred only to 



' 1 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, 
and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk 
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."— Jer. VI:16. 



ITHOUT explanation or introduction, let us go 



directly to that part of the text which commends 



the "old paths" and calls them "the good way." 
For if we travel the right road we shall infallibly reach 
the right destination. Why does the Lord exhort us to 
ask for the old paths and in what sense does he call them 
the good way? I answer first that he certainly does not 
do so because old things are always better than new. 
Mere old age is never a virtue in itself. The old is never 
to be preferred to the new unless it is intrinsically better 
when it is considered on its own merits. If it were other- 
wise, we would cease to study, abandon all the results of in- 
vention, discovery and progress, and confine our attention 
to the effort to find out the oldest things in every depart- 
ment of life. We would discard the modern methods of 
agriculture which both experiment and experience have 
proved to be the best and return to the most primitive 
methods. The steel plow would have to give way to the 



Sumter]. 




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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



sharpened forked stick with which the servants of Abra- 
ham broke the ground, and the steam threshing machine 
that disposes of the year's harvest in a few hours would 
yield to the hand flail, or to the driving of oxen to and fro 
across the grain, or to some other equally tedious and 
wasteful process. In medicine, we would abandon the 
successful treatment of disease that has been taught us 
by enlightened science and revert to the ancient theories 
that those medicines which are costliest and most ill tasted 
are the best. In religion, we would all believe in witch- 
craft and burn the witches, and we would consider doc- 
trinal differences as a crime against the State to be treated 
with physical penalties, extreme cases to be cured by tort- 
ure or punished by death. Such illustrations are sufficient 
to show how absurd it is to imagine that everything old 
is good just because it is old. When, therefore, the Lord 
says, "Ask for the old paths" we are not to understand 
Him as laying down a general law that whatever is old is 
good, but He is referring to something definite in the laws, 
customs or experiences of the past that in some satisfac- 
tory manner has been proven to be superior and to which 
His people are urged to return. 1 

A consideration of the circumstances will reveal very 
clearly what that reference is. In this passage God is 
addressing the Jews through Jeremiah. God had dealt 
with his chosen people as he has never dealt with any 
other people. He had called Abraham out from the 
heathen to be the founder of a consecrated race, and for 
this purpose had given to him the garden spot of the 
world for a possession. His descendants had gone down 
into Egypt and there had fallen into a bondage so severe 
that Abraham by prophetic vision had called it a "horror 
of great darkness," and one that has passed into history 
as the extreme instance of degrading servitude and cruel 
oppression. From this bondage they had been delivered 
by the outstretched arm of Jehovah, which all the sur- 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



rounding nations saw and remembered and feared for 
many generations. Having brought them out of Egypt 
He led them to Mt. Sinai, in the desert, and there He taught 
them what all men in all ages have supremely needed to 
know, and what in their darkness they have groped after 
and have striven to know. He taught them how to wor- 
ship the Most High acceptably. He revealed the true re- 
ligion with a clearness and fullness such as no other nation 
has ever known unless it has derived the knowledge in 
some way from Israel. He taught them how their sins 
might be forgiven and they might be at peace with God, 
how they might themselves become holy, how they might 
live aright with their fellow men, how they might be 
noble, useful and happy throughout the earthly life and 
how after death they might have everlasting holiness and 
bliss. This revelation was accompanied by such a dis- 
closure of the ineffable glory and authority of God as was 
suitable to command their reverence and win their loving 
confidence. Subsequent revelation in that age and in 
after ages, more fully unfolded what the first revelation 
contained, by precept, by prophecy, by promise, by ob- 
ject lesson. There was scarcely a generation that did not 
have a prophet of its own, Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, 
David and the prophets of the kingdom period. There 
was scarcely a generation that did not witness some 
miracle, the pledge of God's presence and His purpose to 
guide, to protect, to sanctify. While the commands of 
Jehovah were respected there was peace and prosperity, 
and when that religion was forgotten or neglected there 
was trouble. Jeremiah lived in a time of the greatest de- 
parture from the old religion which God had so graciously 
given to them. Idolatries, unmentionable immoralities, 
crimes, and oppressions abounded and awful calamities 
overhung the nation. In their high carnival of irreligion, of 
lust and cruelty, in their alarm and confusion and despair, 
there comes this voice to them from the skies as if to a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



bewildered traveller, "Go no further in that direction, 
stop and see how strange is your position, how threaten- 
ing the prospect, inquire the way back to the old road 
from which you have strayed, and having found it walk 
in it, for that alone will lead to peace. " "Stand ye in the 
ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the 
good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls." 

The call of God was not vague, therefore, nor general, 
but a summons to seek a specific blessing the fathers had 
had and the descendants had lost. It was an appeal to 
return to the commandments and covenant of Sinai, and 
to resume the pursuit of the true religion which had been 
revealed from Heaven. It was called "the good way" 
because it was right. It was known to be right because 
it had been divinely revealed and certified. It carried the 
imprimatur of Heaven and was stamped with the great 
seal of the kingdom of God. "Blessed is the man that 
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth 
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scorn- 
ful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his 
law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like 
a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth 
his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and 
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." 

The question may here be asked, of what practical 
consequence is all of this to those who live in this gener- 
ation ? We are not Jews but Christians. We are not un- 
der the Old Testament but under the New Testament, we 
are not come to Mount Sinai in Arabia but "we are come 
unto Mount Zion. " My answer is that the religion which 
God revealed from Sinai is the only religion which 
God has ever revealed to men. The conditions of re- 
ligion to-day are substantially the same that they were 
when Moses gathered the Israelites around Mt. Sinai, and 
no different religion has ever been given to men. The old 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



religion has not been repealed nor superseded. There 
have been other revelations since the days of Jeremiah, 
but they have only thrown a stronger light on the same 
religion. The Son of God has come in the flesh bringing 
"life and immortality to light through the gospel,' ' but He 
is the incarnation of all the principles involved in the old 
revelation, the meaning in living form of all that God had 
made known concerning the way of salvation and the way 
to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, which is the chief 
end of man. The coming of Christ abolished many rites 
and customs but this did not impair the integrity of the 
scheme of religion as given at Sinai. It was merely a re- 
moving of the drapery from the figure that its true outline 
and its beauty might be the more clearly seen. Christ 
was the promised "Seed" of Abraham. He was the 
"Rock" that followed the Israelites in the wilderness. He 
was ' 'the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
that believeth. " "To him give all the prophets* witness. " 
He was the antitype of all their typical forms. He was 
the theme of every song, the burden of every prophecy, 
the meaning of history, the Messiah of Israel, the hope of 
all ages, the desire of all nations, the light of the world, 
the brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
image of His person, "the King eternal, immortal, in- 
visible, the only wise God," to whom "be honor and glory 
forever and ever. Amen." 

Do you grant that there is a God, "A spirit infinite, 
eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, 
holiness, justice, goodness and truth?" Of course, you 
do. The existence of such a Being is the indispensable con- 
dition of all thought and indeed of all other existence. But 
if such a Being exists it follows as a matter of course that 
He can communicate with His intelligent creatures, else He 
would be inferior to them, for they can communicate with 
each other. Then there is a God who can communicate 
with men. 



[17] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Is there a body of literature called "the Bible" which 
claims to be such a revelation from God to men? Of course 
there is. That is a fact of common knowledge. Are there 
convincing evidences that this Bible did really come from 
God? See how transcendant, incomparable, immeasurable 
it stands amidst all human literature. It is transcendant 
in "the heavenliness of its matter," in its majesty and 
authority. It is transcendant in its form and in the cir- 
cumstances of its construction. It is composed of sixty- 
six books, written by many different authors, and the 
time consumed in the construction of the whole was not 
less than fifteen hundred years, and yet there is an ab- 
solute unity of purpose and consistency of statement in it. 
The giving of this Bible to men was at all times accom- 
panied by miracles, the sign manual of divinity. More- 
over, it is transcendant in its effects upon both individ- 
uals and nations. Its influence falls as gently as the dew 
upon the unfolding life of the child in the pious home, 
causing it to blossom into rectitude, and spirituality and 
strength and beauty. Through the Bible, the most de- 
graded are purified and lifted up and given a place among 
those who respect themselves and win the confidence of 
men and render a useful service to humanity. By it the 
self-righteous learn humility through tortures of repent- 
ance. The transformation of nations is no less marked 
than that of individuals. Every thing lives whither this 
river cometh. Savagery and barbarism yield to civiliza- 
tion, ignorance to learning, suffering and despair to heal- 
ing and content, hatred to charity, and besotted vice and 
superstition to the cultivation of intelligent piety. 

Once more, do you grant that the mind of man is im- 
perfect and that his heart is prone to sin? These are mat- 
ters of universal consciousness. Then man is not qualified 
to frame a religion for himself to supplant the one that 
God has given him. 



[18] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Now, if all these things be true, if man is unable to 
devise a religion for himself and if God has revealed 
a religion to him, it necessarily follows that that 
religion revealed by God remains in force until it is re- 
pealed or another is given in its stead which is equally as 
well authenticated. To seek the old paths then is to hark 
back to the Bible, ever back to the Bible, away from all 
human invention, however plausible or fascinating, back 
to the Bible as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. 
In the language of a distinguished English controversialist, 
4 'The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Pros- 
testants." 

This is the claim which the Bible makes for itself. It 
calls itself the ' 'incorruptible seed," 4 'the word of God 
which liveth and abideth forever.' ' Christ said, "Heaven 
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass 
away." Paul said "I determined not to know anything 
among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified/' and 
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." To Timothy he said, "I charge thee, 
therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and 
his kingdom: Preach the word." Concerning those who 
would persuade the Galatians to modify their rule of faith, 
he says, "Though we, or an angel from Heaven preach 
any other gospel unto you than that which we have 
preached unto you, let him be accursed." Finally among 
the closing sentences of the Bible we find this startling 
warning: "If any man shall add unto these things, God 
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this 
book; and if any man shall take away from the words 
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away 
his part out of the book of life, and out of the 
holy city, and from the things which are written in this 
book." 



[19] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



We hear of the ' 'effete doctrines of the seventeenth 
century," and much also of a "new theology' ' and "ad- 
vanced views in religion." Of course, we can see how 
such expressions might be used with propriety in cer- 
tain circumstances. If by the "effete doctrines of the 
seventeeth century, ' ' it is meant that those doctrines did 
not agree with the teaching of God's word, it is proper 
to describe them as "effete." Indeed in that case they 
never did have any life in them. But if by 1 'effete doc- 
trines" it is meant that those doctrines correctly represent 
the teachings of the Bible, but that the human race has 
outgrown them and no longer needs them in this pro- 
gressive age, the error is fundamental and deadly. If by 
a "new theology" is meant a re-study of the Bible and a 
more correct statement of its teachings, well and good. 
But if the "new theology" is something wrought out by the 
mind of scholars, different from the Bible and supposed to 
be an improvement on it, then the name and the thing are 
alike to be repudiated and to be feared as a malignant 
poison. 

The Bible bears the same relation to Theology that 
nature bears to science. It contains the ultimate facts 
and it is the final appeal. If we find we have misunder- 
stood the Bible we must change our doctrine, as we 
abandoned Scholasticism for the Baconian system. But 
we may no more change or discard the Bible than we may 
discredit nature. 

We also hear of "new methods" in religion. If these 
new methods are intended to win the attention of men 
and bring them into contact with the gospel, they are 
harmless and may be beneficial. But if they are new 
methods to secure peace with God and holiness of life, 
they are alien and hostile to Christ and an affront to the 
Almighty Spirit of grace. 

We do not need anew religion, for none of the con- 
ditions have changed since the old one was given us. 



[20] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



1. Human nature has not changed. Man has the same 
dual nature, soul and body, with the same intricate and 
inscrutable relations to each other. Man's body has the same 
members, and is composed of the same materials, and the 
same chemical, physical, and mechanical laws control its 
life and action as when Jeremiah or Moses lived. What 
was food then is food now and what was poison then is 
poison now. Man's soul is the same. The mind has the 
same faculties of reception, reproduction and thought. 
The heart bears the same affections and emotions, the 
same joys and sorrows, loves and hates, hopes and fears. 
The moral nature is the same and makes the same dis- 
tinction between right and wrong. What was moral in 
former days is moral now and what was immoral then is im- 
moral now. Conscience approves the right and condemns 
the wrong just as it always did, and man has lost none of 
his fear of punishment or hope of reward. Human virtues 
and vices have not undergone any changes. The unprinci- 
pled business man of to-day who regards conscience in 
business and a consideration for the interests of others as 
antiquated, is startled on reading the story of Jacob and 
Laban to find the same sharp practice in their dealings 
with each other that he imagined were discovered in the 
present age. The artful politician finds his counterpart 
in Absolom and the resourceful public man finds his in 
Joab. And where shall we find constructive statesman- 
ship, or where such versatilily of genius as in Moses, the 
poet, orator, historian, lawgiver, statesman, masterful 
leader of men? , 

2. God is the same, three persons and one God for- 
ever. He has the same attributes, omniscience, omnipo- 
tence and omnipresence. When David's meditations on 
these themes were gathered up from a life time of varied 
experiences, from the shepherd life, from the court, the 
camp, the battle field, the exile's cave, and he gave ex- 
pression to them in that magnificent outburst: 



[21] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, YA. 



"O, Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me, 

' 'Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou under- 
standest my thought afar off, 

"Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art ac- 
quainted with all my ways. 

"For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou 
knowest it altogether. 

"Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand 
upon me. 

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot 
attain unto it. 

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from 
thy presence? 

"If I ascend up into heaven, thou are there; if I make my bed 

in hell, behold, thou are there. 
"If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost 

parts of the sea ; 
"Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall 

hold me, 

"If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night 

shall be light about me. 
"Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth 

as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to 

thee." 

We are sure that we can never get beyond that 
description of these attributes. 

If God was love when the New Testament was written 
He is love to-day, and all the infinite reaches of His nature 
are permeated with that divine tenderness. He is char- 
acterized by the same righteousness and holiness, • 'dwelling 
in the light which no man can approach unto; whom 
no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power 
everlasting. Amen." He is "of purer eyes than to 
behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity." He has the 
same indignation against sin and the same delight in 
holiness. Therefore God's attitude toward sin and the 
sinner remains unchanged and if He were to promulgate 
another plan of salvation to-day, his nature must express 
itself in the same way and reproduce the same old plan, 

f22] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



embodying the same principles of righteousness and 
mercy. 

There is no new Christ, the Son of God incarnate, 
very God and very man. The apostle exclaims, ' ' Jesus 
Christ the same yesterday, to-day and forever." 

The virgin birth has not ceased to be a fact. Christ's 
ministry of love and reconciliation is still a fact. His cru^ 
cifixion, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension are all 
as much realities as they ever were. Are we to imagine 
that all these stupendous facts involved in God's gift of 
His Son for a perishing world are of temporary effect? 
Has the atonement lost its meaning? Has the blood of 
Christ lost its value? 

' 'Dear dying Lamb thy precious blood 
' 'Shall never lose its power 
' ' 'Till all the ransomed church of God 
1 'Be saved to sin no more. " 

The Holy Spirit is the same, in His nature, His office 
and His work, renewing, convincing, persuading, enable- 
ing, sanctifying, guiding, comforting and crowning with 
final triumph. 

3. The old methods of delivering souls out of the 
estate of in and misery and bringing them into the 
estate of salvation, are found by experience to be as 
effective to-day as they ever were and they are the only 
methods that produce the unmistakably genuine results. 
They are the methods of Peter and Paul and the other 
apostles. They narrated the facts of the gospel story. 
They told how the Son of God became incarnate, how He 
lived among men and ministered to them with divine 
sympathy and almighty power, how He died for them 
and rose again and ascended to heaven, where seated on 
the right hand of the majesty on high, He has all power 
in heaven and in earth and wields it with the same loving 
heart He displayed when He was in the flesh. Having 



[23] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



told this story they offered eternal life without money 
and without price to all who would turn from their sins 
and trust in the mercy of God as it had been displayed in 
Jesus Christ. As they preached this curious gospel the 
hearts of hearers were opened by the Holy Ghost so that 
they accepted the divine offer and embraced Jesus Christ 
as their Savior and Lord forever. Henceforth these 
converts had peace of conscience and their lives were more 
and more altered into the. likeness of Christ. 

These methods have been found sufficient for all the 
religious effects desired among men, in whatever age and 
regardless of the learning or the abilities of the preacher. 
They were the methods of Augustine, of Bernard of 
Clairvaux, of Savonarola, of Luther and Calvin and Knox, 
and Jonathan Edwards, and Whitefield, and the Wesleys 
and Spurgeon and Moody. They are adapted to all classes 
of hearers. Here is a convict in his cell, a profane 
swearer, a drunkard, a burglar, a libertine, a murderer 
all in one. By what we call an accident, some fragment 
of the old story falls under his eye and the familiar trans- 
formation takes place within him. He comes forth a dif- 
ferent man. A live coal from off the altar of God has 
touched and purged his lips. He becomes a preacher of 
the gospel and multitudes of every shade of moral char- 
acter and every degree of intelligence attend his preach- 
ing and many are brought in penitence and faith and 
whole surrender to the feet of Jesus. Here is another 
case at the opposite pole of morality and intelligence, the 
scion of a long line of scholars and moralists, himself the 
exponent of high ethical refinement and an eminent in- 
structor. He attends an evangelistic meeting, that as a 
student of social and religious phenomena, he may observe 
the enthusiasms which he pities. He hears the simple 
gospel story, his heart is touched by the Spirit of God, he 
is completely humbled at the foot of the cross and is not 



[24] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



afraid in the face of all his antecedents to avow his change 
of heart and declare, "God is in you of a truth. " 

What holy enthusiasm, what high loyalty to con- 
science, what exalted heroism this religion has excited. 

What great men have come from its crucibles, 
whether greatness be measured by the standards of 
earth or heaven? On the one side, what intensity and 
dimensions of intellect, what breadth of view, what fer- 
tility of resource, what indomitable purpose, what capacity 
to wait, to endure and to command success. On the other 
side, what sublime unselfishness and self-sacrifice, what 
passion for truth, for humanity, for God. Consider a 
Joseph, in the home, in the fields, in prison, upon the 
throne; a Moses, in the sublimity of self-repression and 
solitude, and in the equal sublimity of confronting and 
subduing Pharaoh, "seeing Him who is invisible;'' an 
Elijah at the brook Cherith or on Mt. Carmel or on Mt. 
Horeb; the Hebrew captives before the fiery furnace; 
Daniel in the den of lions; the disciples before the council 
in Jerusalem; Paul before Agrippa; Wicklif , Huss, Luther, 
Calvin, Knox, Latimer, Ridley and a host of others who 
cannot be mentioned, who in all ages of the church 
"through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, 
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out 
of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 
turned to flight the armies of the aliens;" who "were 
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might 
obtain a better resurrection;" who "had trial of cruel mock- 
ings and scourgings, yea morover of bonds and imprison- 
ment;" who 'were stoned, were sawn asunder, were 
tempted, were slain with the sword, wandered about in 
sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tor- 
mented, of whom the world was not worthy. ' 

What national life and character have been wrought 
by this religion! What virile intellectuality, what dis- 



[25] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



covery, what invention, what mastery of nature, what 
civilization, what progress, what achievement, what civic 
righteousness, what sobriety, what honest commerce, what 
industry, what home life, what peace, what prosperity, 
what love of man, what care for the unfortunate, what 
sense of the infinite and the eternal! 

Consider the illustration of itself our religion has put 
on the pages of history, the story of the Waldensian 
Church, the rise of the Dutch Republic; the romance of the 
Huguenots, their sufferings at home, the splendor of their 
deeds abroad, the leaven of their blood among the nations; 
the signing of the Solemn League and Covenant in the 
Grey friars churchyard in Edinburgh; the record of the 
founding of religious liberty in America; and last but not 
least, in our own day, the martyrdom of thousands of 
Chinese in the Boxer uprising, "not accepting deliv- 
erance. ' ' 

But we need not go beyond our local history to find 
an illustration of the divine energy of our religion. 
When the fathers came to settle in this Valley, so the 
historian records, one controlling reason of their coming 
was that they might have unrestricted enjoyment of their 
religion, which they could not pursue in peace at home 
and which they could not be forced to abandon. Here 
they made their homes in the solitudes of the forests or 
prairies, among the wild beasts, without human neighbors, 
without shelter till they could build one, with only such 
food as the streams and the woods supplied till they could 
clear the land and raise a crop. Here they were exposed 
to the incursions of savages from a distance and in course 
of time actually suffered every species of anxiety and loss 
and torture from that source. All of this they endured 
rather than renounce their religion, or be oppressed in 
the enjoyment of it. All this was the measure of their 
devotion to their religion and through all of this they were 
sustained by the comforts this religion afforded. Among 



[26] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the effects brought with them across the sea, and along 
the wilderness trail to these remote localities were ' 'their 
Bibles, the Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism 
and Rouse's Version of the Psalms of David.' ' Nor did 
they wait for the home missionary to come at the sug- 
gestion and the expense of others to preach the gospel to 
them. As soon as they were well settled and in sufficient 
numbers, they began their ' 'supplication' 9 to the nearest 
Presbytery, hundreds of miles distant, to send them a 
minister. And they continued these ' 'supplications" till 
the man of God appeared among them. Soon houses of 
worship were built and congregations were organized. 
Then the school and later the college followed in succes- 
sion. There came inroads of Indians, with massacres, burn- 
ings, captivities, tortures, bondages and daring escapes. 
Through it all we are sure they found comfort and support 
and hope in the teachings of the old religion, in Bible 
texts, catechism answers and stanzas of Rouse's Ver- 
sion, with all which the mind had been stored in youth 
against such a time as this. 

It is now not far from two hundred years since the 
first settler came to this vicinity. In that time the people 
of whom this congregation forms a representative part, 
have done their share of what the country has accomplished. 
In every war, in the French and Indian War, in the Re- 
volution, in the War of 1812, in the Mexican War, in the 
War between the States they have never been behind their 
countrymen in sacrifice, in service, in courage or in 
achievement. And religion has been a conspicuous motive 
in it all. They orginated the declaration of independence 
and were leaders in the movement for religious liberty and 
the separation of Church and State. It was their religion 
that taught them these things. They gave an Archibald 
Alexander to the church and a Stonewall Jackson to the 
State. 



[27] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Now whether this religion is to be preserved in the 
future and continue a power for good, bringing men into 
communion with God, training them for service on earth 
and glory in heaven, will depend upon how closely you 
adhere to the old paths as they are charted in the old 
Bible. Once for all, acquire the truth that the Bible is 
a revelation of God, infallibly inspired. Buy this truth 
and sell it not. Avoid the poison of all criticism that 
tends to weaken your confidence in that truth. Let the 
heart be imbued with the spirit of the Word of God and 
the mind be stored with its teachings and its promises. 
Teach them diligently to your children in the home and in 
the Sabbath School and let them come, with authority and 
confidence from the pulpit. In this much depends upon 
the preacher and quite as much upon the congregation. 
It is yours to call your minister and to dispense with him 
if he proves untrue. What you demand and expect of him 
will largely determine the character of his preaching. 
The preacher and his congregation act and react on each 
other. He fashions them and they fashion him as well. 
"Like priest, like people," and like people like priest. If you 
are of the number of those of whom the apostle prophesied 
that "they will not endure sound doctrine," but will "heap 
to themselves teachers, having itching ears," that is their 
ears will so itch for novelties that if their teachers cannot 
supply those novelties they will keep on changing their 
teachers; if you demand that he shall prophesy only 
pleasant things, and your greatest ambition for him is to 
be able to say to him as they said to their preachers in 
EzekiePs day, "Thou art as a very lovely song of one that 
hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument 
of music," you can easily emasculate his ministry of all 
spiritual virility. But if you ask him for "the old paths," 
and inquire of him "Where is the good way," if you 
heartily sustain him when he declares to you all the 
counsel of God, saying in the language of an old hymn: 



[28] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



"This is the way the fathers trod, 
"The way that leads me home to God, 
"The King's highway of holiness, 
"I'll go for all his paths are peace;" 

you will make him a true ambassador of Christ, and 
"a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth." 4 'All thy children shall be 
taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy 
children. " Your sons shall be as plants grown up in their 
youth and your daughters will be as corner stones, 
polished after the similitude of a palace? Into all the 
walks of life you will send forth faithful men and women, 
fearing God and loving their fellow men, intelligent and 
capable, conscientious and devoted, whose names are writ- 
ten in Heaven. 



[29] 




K^ST T^E5BYTE^]AN CHURCH 5TAUNTQN,VA. 



CHAPTER III 



THE UNITED CONGREGATION OF STAUNTON AND TINKLING 
■ SPRING PRESENT A CALL TO THE 
REV. JAMES WADDELL 

THE First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia, 
was organized by Lexington Presbytery in 1804. 
But it inherits a much longer history. The Presby- 
erians at and near Staunton were connected with Tinkling 
Spring Church. On the 1st day of May, 1783, ''the united 
congregation of Staunton and Tinkling Spring* 9 presented 
a call to the Rev. Jas. Waddell, D. D. (immortalized in 
the ' 'British Spy" by William Wirt as "The Blind 
Preacher" ). He preached occasionally in Staunton, but 
having determined to remove east of the Blue Ridge, he 
declined the call. 

"This call is respectfully presented by the united congregations of 
Staunton and Tinkling Spring to the Rev. Ja. Waddel : 

Rev. Sir : 

The congregations of Staunton and Tinkling Spring, having 
cordially agreed to unite under your ministerial care and to share 
equally of your labors and provide equally for your support, have ap- 
pointed us, the subscribers, in their name and behalf, solemnly to 
invite you to take the pastoral charge of them by installments. 
Preaching, catechising, reproving, and administering the ordinances 
of baptism and the Lord's supper to worthy subjects, are official 
duties which will be expected from you; and as the discharge of these 
imply on their part a respectful attendance and Christian submission, 
you have a right to demand both, and every virtuous effort to promote 
and maintain order, peace and love in the societies. Moreover, we, 
Alexander St. Clair and William Bowyer, Commissioners, do hereby 
covenant and promise in behalf of the Congregation of Staunton to 
pay to you, or your order, from time to time, at the end of every six 
months from the date hereof, you conducting yourself as a minister of 



[31] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Christ Jesus, the sum of twenty-five pounds in gold and silver, or in 
current money, fully equivalent thereto, for the half of your labours. 

And we, ****** bind ourselves in the same terms 
and manner with the above gentlemen, to pay in behalf of the con- 
gregation of Tinkling Spring twenty pounds. In Witness whereof, 
we the parties for ourselves and for our respective societies, do sub- 
scribe our names, this first day of May, 1783. 

For Staunton, j ^KDB^tt^ \ Commissioner," 

The names of the Tinkling Spring Commissioners have been cut 
out, by whom or why I do not know; it will be observed that their 
names are not given in the call. 

The foregoing is a copy of the original paper in my possession. 
It shows that there was a Presbyterian organization in Stauntan in 
1783, although the church here was not constituted by Presbytery till 
1804. 

Jos. A. Waddell. 

The Rev. James Waddell was born in the month of 
July, 1739, and it is believed that his birth occurred on board 
of the ship which brought the family from Ireland to 
America. A failure of crops in Ireland at that time in- 
duced many people to leave the country and come to a 
land of greater abundance. Many of the early settlers of 
Augusta County came at that time, and possibly in the 
same ship with the Waddell family. 

While many of the new-comers came directly from the 
landing place, on the Delaware river, to Augusta County, 
the Waddells settled in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. 

James Waddell was sent to school at an early age, and 
educated at one of the most celebrated schools in the 
Colonies at that time. He became an assistant teacher, 
and the afterwards celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush was 
one of his pupils. 

When about nineteen years of age he started to go 
from home on horseback to South Carolina, where he ex- 
pected to engage in teaching. Passing through Virginia, 
he encountered the Rev. Samuel Davies, who induced him 
to remain here. He was first employed as a teacher in 



[32] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the school of the Rev. Mr. Todd, in Louisa County, and 
there began to study for the ministry. He was taken under 
the care of Hanover Presbytery, at a meeting held at 
Augusta Stone Church in 1760. 

After being licensed by Presbytery he preached for a 
time in Bedford county, and, according to the narrative of 
an aged member of the church there, his preaching at- 
tracted much attention. He finally accepted a call to Lan- 
caster County, and remained there 'till May, 1776, when he 
removed to Augusta County, residing on South River above 
Waynesboro. While living in Augusta he preached regu- 
larly at Tinkling Spring. In 1784 he removed to a planta- 
tion near the present town of Gordonsville, where he spent 
the remainder of his life. While living there he became 
totally blind from cataract, but continued to preach in a 
rustic meeting-house, built by himself on his own land. 
His blindness was partially relieved by a surgical opera- 
tion. In the year 1794 the honorary degree of Doctor of 
Divinity was conferred upon him by the college at Car* 
lisle, Pennsylvania. His death occurred in 1805. 




[33| 



CHAPER IV 



ORGANIZATION OF CHURCH WITH BRIEF HISTORY 
TO THE YEAR 1884 

ON the 9th of May, 1804, Presbytery appointed the 
Rev. John Montgomery, of Rocky Spring, and the 
Rev. Benjamin Erwin, of Mossy Creek, to organize 
the church in Staunton. The church consisted originally of 
only fifteen or twenty members, and the first Ruling Elders 
elected and ordained were Joseph Bell, Joseph Cowan, 
Andrew Barry and Samuel Clarke. In 1805, the Rev. 
William Calhoun removed from Eastern Virginia to 
Staunton, and in August, 1806, at Brown's Meeting House 
(since Hebron) he was installed pastor of the united con- 
gregations of Brown's Meeting House and Staunton. Mr. 
Wilson, of Augusta Church, and Mr. McCue, of Tinkling 
Spring, were the committee of installation. The first 
church building was erected in 1818. The building was 
originally a very plain brick house, having neither portico 
nor steeple. The tower for the bell, at the north end of 
the church, was built some nineteen or twenty years after- 
wards. As is generally known, the house is now a part of 
the Mary Baldwin Seminary, though altered in ap- 
pearance. 

The Rev. Dr. John H. Rice attended a meeting of the 
Synod in Staunton in October of that year, and in his diary 
says : ' 'The Presbyterians have a large and very decent 
house of worship in the town in a state of considerable 
forwardness. If completed in the style in which it is 
begun it will do great credit to the public spirit of the 
citizens." 



[34] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



At a meeting of Presbytery, in Staunton, on Thurs- 
day, April 27, 1826, the pastoral relation of Mr. Calhoun 
with this church was dissolved, and he thereafter, for 
many years, devoted his whole time to Hebron congrega- 
tion. Under his ministry the number of church members 
in Staunton greatly increased. 

The next pastor was the Rev. Joseph Smith (after- 
wards D. D.) who was installed April 29, 1826. While 
pastor of the church Mr. Smith also taught a classical 
school, being principal of the Staunton Academy. Mr. 
Smith resided in Staunton more than six years, and then 
resigned his charge, the relation being dissolved by 
Presbytery October 22, 1832. 

The celebrated Dr. Nettleton spent the winter of 
1828- , 9 in Staunton, and his labors here were instrumental 
in much good. Many valuable members were added to the 
church, and the cause of religion generally was greatly 
promoted. 

For nearly two years the pastorate remained vacant, 
the pulpit being occupied occasionally by various ministers. 

The Rev. John Steele was elected pastor in 1834, and 
on the 20th of June was ordained and installed by Presby- 
tery. He remained here rather more than three years, 
the relation being dissolved August 4, 1837, and then 
emigrated to the State of Illinois. 

The Rev. Paul E. Stevenson, of New York, succeeded 
Mr. Steele as pastor. He came to Staunton from Prince- 
ton Seminary, on invitation, in the fall of 1837, and was 
installed June 8, 1838. During Mr. Stevenson's pastorate 
the church and congregation made considerable progress 
in various respects. Amongst the outward improvements 
was the enlargement of the church grounds by the pur- 
chase and addition of the lot lying between the church and 
New street. This lot previously rugged and unsightly, 
was graded and neatly enclosed, and soon presented an 
attractive appearance. Augusta Female Seminary also 



[35] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



was founded during this period, by the Rev. Rufus W. 
Bailey, who came to Staunton to establish a school for 
girls. For many years a school of this kind had been 
maintained here by a succession of teachers, in more or 
less intimate connection with the church. Among the 
teachers successively were a Mr. Esterbrook, the Rev. 
Mr. Thatcher and Mr. R. L. Cooke. But no attempt had 
been made to erect buildings, and different private houses, 
rented by the teachers, had been occupied. Through Mr. 
Bailey's influence, however, the Presbyterians of the 
town and county were induced to take an interest in the 
matter as a denominational enterprise. Trustees were 
selected, an act of incorporation was obtained from the 
legislature (in 1845) and in a short time the centre build- 
ing of the seminary was erected by means of funds raised 
by general subscription. The principal room of this build- 
ing was designed, and was used for several years as a 
lecture-room in connection with the church. The Ruling 
Elders of this period were Samuel Clarke, John C. Sowers, 
Jacob Lease, Dr. A. Waddell, William H. Allen, Lyttle- 
ton Waddell and William A. Bell. Mr. Stevenson re- 
signed his pastoral office in 1844, the relation being dis- 
solved April 2d, and returned to New York. Mr. R. R. 
Howison occupied the pulpit about six months. The Rev. 
Benjamin M. Smith (afterwards Dr. Smith, long a pro- 
fessor in the Theological Seminary at Hampden-Sidney) 
was the next pastor. He was installed on Saturday, 
November 22, 1845. During his incumbency the manse in 
which the pastors of the church have since resided was 
erected, chiefly through the agency of Mr. Bailey. Large 
additions to the seminary were projected by Mr. Smith, 
and the first election of Deacons was made during his 
ministry here. He resigned his charge in 1854. 

The Rev. Joseph R. Wilson, professor in Hampden- 
Sidney College, accepted a call from the congregation in 
December, 1854, and removed to Staunton the last week 



[36] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



in March following. He was installed June 24, 1855. 
While he resided here the enlargement of the seminary 
as previously planned was accomplished, so as to provide 
a residence for the principal and his assistants and board- 
ing for a considerable number of pupils. The principal 
room of the centre building was then converted into a 
study hall, and the large basement apartment in the 
eastern wing was used as a congregational lecture-room. 
The church building was also enlarged and otherwise 
improved. 

Mr. Wilson remained in Staunton a little more than 
two years. His pastoral relation was dissolved October 
8, 1857, and he removed to Augusta, Georgia, to take 
charge of the Presbyterian Church in that city. He has 
since then been successively professor in the Theological 
Seminaries at Columbia, South Carolinia, and Clarksville, 
Tennessee. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was long 
ago conferred upon him. He is the father of Dr. Wood- 
row Wilson, president of the Princeton University, who 
was born here. 

His successor was the Rev. William E. Baker, who 
commenced his labors on the 1st of December, 1857, but 
was not installed until April 23, 1859. Since then the 
church and congregation have made marked progress. 
The number of church members has greatly increased ; 
the Seminary has grown to its present dimensions, being 
capable of accommodating within its walls two hundred 
and fifty pupils, besides officers and employes; and the 
size of the congregation demanding it, the work of erect- 
ing a larger and more commodious church edifice on 
another site was begun in the summer of 1870. The congre- 
gation worshiped in the old church for the last time on 
Sunday, June 25, 1871, and on the next day it was occu- 
pied by workmen to be fitted up as part of Augusta Female 
Seminary. Subsequently, by authority of an Act of the 
Legislature, the property was conveyed by the trustees of 



[37] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the church to the trustees of the Seminary. The new 
church was not completed till 1872. but for some time pre- 
viously the congregation worshiped in the basement 
lecture room. 

The following is from the Staunton Spectator of June 
11, 1872: 

DEDICATION OF THE NEW CHURCH 

The services in the new Presbyterian Church of this place on last 
Sabbath were of an interesting character. In the morning the dedica- 
tion of that large and splendid church, in the afternoon the thanks- 
giving services in connection therewith, and in the evening the anni- 
versary celebration of the Sabbath School of that congregation. 

Before the hour— 11 o'clock a. m. — arrived for the beginning of 
the services attending the dedication, that very large church was filled 
to its capacity, both on the floor and in the gallery. The exercises 
were commenced by the rendition in admirable style by the choir of an 
anthem composed some twenty years since by Mr. J. W. Alby, of this 
place. Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, then offered a brief 
prayer, after which the 137th Psalm, second part, was sung. After 
an earnest prayer by the Pastor— Rev. Wm. E. Baker— he stated that 
the Building Committee would report; whereupon the chairman of that 
committee, William Frazier, Esq., read the following: 

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CHURCH, BY MAJ. THOS. H. 
WILLIAMSON, PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEER- 
ING IN THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE, LEXINGTON 

The new Presbyterian Church in Staunton is of the same style as 
that selected by Gen. R. E. Lee for the Chapel of Washington and Lee 
University. The style of both is the modernized Norman. 

The Norman, the Saxon, and the Lombard are all of the same fam- 
ily, and had their origin among the early Christians. The first Chris- 
tian churches of Great Britain were Saxon, and the sturdy English and 
Scotch-Irish races first worshipped the only God in these massive, 
thick-walled temples with short, thick, round columns, the round- 
headed windows and deeply recessed and circular-headed doors. The 
Norman differs from the Saxon in the amplification of all its parts. The 
Normans were fond of stateliness and magnificence, and though they 
retained the other characteristics of the Saxon style, yet by the ampli- 
fication of dimensions and the elaboration of details, they made such a 
striking change and improvement as to entitle it to be characterized 
as a new order of architecture. 



[38] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



No people ever exhibited an example of so rapid transition from 
the excess of pagan barbarism and of the worship of Odin, their idol 
god, to the Christian civilization, industry and refinement as did the 
Normans on the cession of Normandy to them by Charles the Simple, 
A. D. 912, and on the alliance of his daughter with their valorous 
leader, Roller, when they quickly became earnest converts to the Chris- 
tian faith. 

The Normans were unquestionably the finest race of men that 
ever poured forth from the regions of the North. Amidst the bar- 
barism, the obscurity and the ignorance of the middle ages, they 
seem to rise up like a superior generation of beings to advance the 
cause of civilization and religion. By dint of their bravery they 
established themselves in France, founded a dynasty in Italy, wrested 
Sicily from the Saracens, and finally became the conquerors of Eng- 
land. They were warm-hearted and sincere to their friends, generous 
and humane to their vanqishued enemies, and, indeed, to them may be 
attributed many of the best and highest qualities which at present 
constitute the boast of the English and Virginian character. 

It is pleasant, then, to see our churches built in a style which 
originated and prevailed with our noble and Christian forefathers, and 
that we are taught by the same Bible to worship the same God. 

The Staunton Church, though in the modernized Norman style, in 
consequence of the many modern improvements, yet retains the round- 
headed windows and doors, the stately and magnificent tower, and in- 
stead of the open timber roof and ceiling of the middle ages has in- 
troduced the modern arched ceiling sunk in deep caissons or panels by 
moulded and otherwise ornamented ribs. The crown or key-stone rib 
has the modern movable ventilator inserted, quite unknown to our 
Norman ancestry. The styles and mouldings of the panel work are 
rendered in walnut and the sunken panel of yellow poplar, oiled and 
varnished on the natural grain. The gallery front and the ceiling un- 
der the gallery are made to correspond in style and finish, and the 
whole effect is most pleasing and presents a very rich appearance. 
The cornice, also, which surrounds this audience room is beautiful and 
in accord with the general style. The pulpit, platform, and desk are 
in solid black walnut, very richly treated and yet in perfect good 
taste. The walls are in course of being plastered in sand finish with a 
beautiful neutral tint of French gray. The stained glass windows 
have all been subscribed for, I understand, by individuals, even to the 
smallest ones in the two towers. The spire is now rapidly going up, 
which is another of the more modern inventions grafted on the old Nor- 
man, but has been accepted by all Christians as the finger of Christian- 



[39] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



ity, ever pointing to the dwelling-place of the only true God, and direct- 
ing all mankind to His throne. T. H. W. 

After reading the above, Mr. Frazier delivered the keys of the 
building to the pastor, who, on behalf of the congregation, expressed 
thanks to the committee for the efficient manner in which they had dis- 
charged the arduous and perplexing duties devolved upon them. 

The 567th hymn was then sung, after which Rev. Dr. Hoge de- 
livered the dedicatory sermon. He took as his text the 22d verse of 
the 45th chapter of Isaiah : 

• 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am 
God, and there is none else." 

He prefaced his remarks by stating that he would not preach a 
sermon like those usually preached on similar occasions— that they 
were quite proper, but that on this occasion he would discuss a subject 
of more importance than these usually treated of on such occasions. 
The theme of his discourse was ' 'Salvation, " which, in a sermon of 
an hour's length, he discussed in an able and eloquent manner, and 
presented forcibly the different important ideas embraced in the text, 
which he analyzed clearly and illustrated graphically. At the con- 
clusion of his discourse, in a solemn and impressive manner, he dedi- 
cated the new church to the worship of Gcd and the preaching of the 
blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

THANKSGIVING SERVICE 

The thanksgiving meeting in connection with the dedication of the 
church was held at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In addition to the pastor 
of that church, the services were participated in by Rev. Geo. B. Tay- 
lor, pastor of the Baptist Church of Staunton; Rev. Jas. Murray, pas- 
tor of Bethel Church in this county ; Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Rich- 
mond ; Rev. Daniel B. Ewing pastor of Hebron Church, in this county; 
Rev. D. M. Gilbert, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Staunton ; Rev. 
J. I. Miller, principal of the Staunton Female Seminary, and Rev. 
R. S. Walker, pastor of Union Church in this county. 

The services were opened by a voluntary, "Lord of Hosts," by 
the choir, which was rendered in admirable style. 

Then an appropriate prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Ewing, after 
which Rev. Mr. Gilbert read the 84th Psalm, third part, which was 
sung by the choir. 

Rev. Mr. Baker then delivered a brief address of welcome to the 
ministers and members of other denominations who were present. 

Rev. Geo. B. Taylor responded on behalf of the ministers of 
Staunton in a sensible and suitable manner, after which appropriate 



[40] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



addresses of congratulation were delivered by Rev. Mr. Murray and 
Dr. Hoge, which were of an interesting character. 

At the conclusion of the addresses, Rev. J. I. Miller offered an • 
earnest prayer, after which Rev. Mr. Walker read the 122d Psalm, 
which was sung by the choir. The services closed with the singing of 
the doxology. 

During Mr. Baker's pastorate, and shortly after the 
close of the war, in 1865, Mr. T. B. Coleman, a member 
of the Staunton Church, began to hold prayer-meetings in 
a neglected neighborhood, two miles east of town, on the 
Waynesboro road. This service grew into a Sunday school 
in a public school house, which the ladies of the Staunton 
Church helped to build. After a time it was thought de- 
sirable to have a separate house of worship, and finally 
Olivet Chapel was erected on ground donated by the 
Messrs. Doom. There Sunday school and other services 
have been held on Sabbath afternoons by members of the 
Staunton Church, the pastor and other ministers occas- 
ionally preaching. During several years various young 
ministers were employed from time to time to preach at 
that point. Of the people connected with the chapel more 
than thirty became church members. In 1898 Olivet was 
organized as a separate church, having a pastor of its own. 

The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian 
Church began its session in the First Presbyterian Church 
of Staunton on May 19, 1881. The Assembly was at that 
date composed of twelve Synods, sixty-seven Presbyteries, 
one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight Churches, 
with one thousand and sixty ministers, and a membership 
of 120,028. 

The opening sermon was preached by Rev. T. A, 
Hoyt, D. D., of Nashville, Tenn., from Galatains, 1st 
chapter and 6th and 7th verses. Dr. Wm. Brown, Perm- 
anent Clerk, called the roll, and Rev. R. P. Farris, D. D. , 
of St. Louis, Mo., was elected Moderator, and Rev. G. A. 
Trenholm, of Bethel Presbytery, South Carolina, Reading 
Clerk. 



[41] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



At that time the entire Missionary force, under the 
direction of the church, consisted of eighteen ordained 
missionaries, one missionary physician, twenty-six assis- 
tant missionaries from this country, thirteen ordained na- 
tive assistants, variously employed as teachers, colporters, 
and Bible readers, making ninety-three in all. The re- 
ceipts for the year were $59,215.39. Lectures on foreign 
missions were delivered by Rev. Dr. Palmer and Rev. Dr. 
T. A. Hoyt. 

After a nine days' session the Assembly adjourned to 
meet in Atlanta, Ga., in May, 1882. 

The Ruling Elders during Mr. Baker's incumbency, 
but not all at the same time, were Lyttleton Waddell, 
William A. Bell, John Wayt, John Trimble, James Gilke- 
son, John B. Tinsley, Alexander H. Taylor, Joseph A. 
Waddell, William J. Nelson, John K. Woods, John Paris, 
Dr. J. Alexander Waddell, Davis A. Kayser, T. B. Cole- 
man, Dr. George S. Walker, Charles Grattan, John Echols, 
Robt. D. Lilley, Henry L. Hoover, and Henry D. Peck. 

Mr. Baker resigned his charge early in 1884, and was 
released by Presbytery on the 20th of February. 




[42] 



CHAPTER V 



REV. JOHN PHILIP STRIDER, D. D. 

THE Rev. John P. Strider having been elected pastor, 
was installed November 23, 1884. The committee 
of Presbytery officiating on that occasion were the 
Rev. Dr. C. R. Vaughan and the Rev. W. M. McElwee. 
During Mr. Strider's brief pastorate, the Rev. Dr. William 
Dinwiddie conducted services in the congregation for ten 
days or more, and as the result one hundred persons were 
received into the church, February 8, 1885, some six or 
eight being received afterwards. 

Mr. Strider's health being seriously impaired, he 
found himself unable to perform the duties of pastor. He 
therefore resigned and accepted a professorship in Wash- 
ington and Lee University, which had recently conferred 
upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was re- 
leased by Presbytery September 24, 1885, and died in 
Staunton, in January, 1886. During his pastorate the fol- 
lowing Elders were elected and installed: John Murray, 
Dr. N. Wayt, and James N. McFarland. 



"AT REST" 

DEATH OF 

REV. JOHN P. STRIDER, D. D. 

No lovelier manifestation of mutual esteem and affection between 
pastor and people — between hearts bound in Christian attachment and 
sympathy— was ever exhibited in a community in a higher degree than 
was in this during the few but eventful months which have passed 
since Dr. Strider assumed the pastorate of the First Presbyterian 
Church in this city. His frequent visits since entering, last Fall, upon 



[43] 



Rev. John P. Strider, D. D. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



his duties at Washington and Lee University, added to the fervor of 
the friendship previously existing, and not only his former congrega- 
gation, but many in the community likewise, could not but regret the 
separation. A few weeks since intelligence was received here that his 
health had again failed, and that he had called a sister to his bedside 
at Lexington, who at once obeyed the solemn summons. About three 
weeks since, in feeble and rapidly failing health, he was brought to 
the home of his attached friend, Mr. G. G. Gooch, in this city. Day 
by day and night after night since, an anxious enquiry for his welfare 
moved every heart. Able and sympathetic physicians, prayerful 
hearts and tender hands did all that human skill could devise for his 
relief. With him have been his sister and his father and friends with- 
out number. On Saturday, the 23d instant, at six and a-half p. m., he 
breathed his last. During the Sabbath, and until the obsequies, the 
body, reposing in the casket at the residence of Mr. Gooch, was visited 
by large numbers of persons. The plate upon the casket had but a 
short line engraved upon it, but it was full of significance. In Ger- 
man text were the expressive words— "At Rest" — reminding all of 
the impressiveness and the beauty of his prayers on like occasions, 
when he would lay "At Rest" the forms of those who had kept the 
faith and had departed in peace. 

HIS YOUTHFUL LIFE 

John Philip Strider was one of several children, sons and daugh- 
ters of John H. Strider, of Jefferson county, now West Virginia. He 
was born in July, 1848. In 1853, his father removed to Washington city, 
and as soon as he was old enough, this son entered a primary school there. 
He was studious above his years, unfolding a character for resolution, 
courage, and elevated bearing in the development of those traits 
which are not usually so conspicuous in one of his age. When he was 
only ten years of age his father was called to the far west upon the 
borders of the settlements and the son accompanied him, and, to 
gratify his expressed desire, was allowed to prolong his stay, and he 
travelled alone over four hundred miles through the settlements, often 
walking long distances before he rejoined his father, who had local 
business engagements requiring his constant time in Missouri. 

The events which culminated in war between the States caused 
his father to return with his family to the Valley of Virginia. This 
son was placed under the tuition of Major Jed Hotchkiss, then con- 
ducting the "Loch Willow" school in Augusta county. He had not 
been there long, before that school, like hundreds of others, was dis- 
continued. Washington College continued an academic course during 
most of the war, and to that institution he made his way, and was re- 



[45] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



ceived into the family of the Rev. Dr. McElwee, then residing near 
Lexington. Here he pursued his studies with occasional interrup- 
tions, when called out in the reserve forces of military defense, of 
which youths under eighteen years formed a part. He volunteered, 
and was in the battle of Piedmont, receiving a severe wound. He 
was cared for at the kind home of Mrs. Thos. McCue, where he re- 
mained three months till able to return to his home. 

A GRADUATE—CHURCH COMMISSION 

After 1865, and when Gen. Robert E. Lee became president of the 
college, he was still a student, and attracted the special attention of 
that great man, who would not consent to a contemplated withdrawal 
of him on his father's part. Continuing, he graduated in 1868, and 
immediately thereafter, in association with two other young gentle- 
men, was sent to Kentucky upon an important church mission. He 
had previously, in 1863, under the pastorate of the late Rev. Wm. S. 
White, D. D., then at Lexington, connected himself with the church, 
and had determined to prepare himself for the ministry. His com- 
mission to Kentucky, occupying three years, was well performed, and 
during the time all his energies which could be applied to the conse- 
crated work he had in view were so exerted, with characteristic de- 
votion to his Master's work. 

TRAVELS AND STUDIES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 

Returning from Kentucky in 1871, he, in company with two young 
associates, made a tour in Europe, and in parts of Asia and Africa. 
Two winters were occupied respectively at the universities in Berlin 
and Leipsic. The summer months were spent in traveling. He 
visited the countries of Western Europe, and was on the Russian 
borders. He was in Egypt and Palestine, and observed, for several 
months, a corps of scientists exploring at Jerusalem for the founda- 
tions of the ancient city. In Egypt he contracted malarial fever, 
which was seriously felt in after-life in an impaired constitution. To 
Edinburg he then made his way and studied in the Theological Semi- 
nary there, and, with other students, devoted himself with much 
earnestness to Sabbath school work in and around the city. He also 
taught a class at the Seminary. 

During his stay in Europe he was appointed by the Governor of 
West Virginia as commissioner to the World's Exposition at Vienna. 

AT UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN VIRGINIA 

Whilst in Europe and on his travels he had been a constant pedes- 
trian. Nature and her works had charms for him next to his sacred 



[46] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



calling, and upon her beauties and her glories he always delighted to 
feast his eyes and mind. It will not be out of place here to mention 
that he read of the great waterfall in our mountains, on the border of 
Nelson county, and had arranged for a visit there in the early Spring. 

On his return from Europe, his father observed the great draft 
which had been made upon his physical strength, and desired that he 
should rest a year, at least, before commencing his studies again. 
This he declined to do, and at once proceeded to the Union Theological 
Seminary, where, in two years, he was graduated. 

ORDINATION AND MINISTRY 

Immediately after completing the course at the Seminary he was 
ordained by the Winchester Presbytery and called by the churches at 
Rapidan and Mitchell's Station, and afterwards to Culpeper C. H., 
where he remained about five years, physical disability often inter- 
fering with his labors as he desired in constancy to perform them. He 
made occasional winter visits to the South, and became a great fav- 
orite in Florida and Georgia. The intercourse ripened into affection 
for him, and the church at Savannah called him to become its pastor. 
Though reluctant to assume the great responsibilities of the charge 
without the physical strength sufficient for a full performance of its 
duties, he, however, served the church for a year or more, and then 
returned to Virginia. * 

In the summer of 1884, the pastorate of the First Presbyterian 
Church in this city being vacant, Dr. Strider was called to it. He accept- 
ed and entered upon its duties, and the early fruits of his ministry here, 
which were so signally enriched by the aid of Dr. Dinwiddie when the 
pastor was too feeble to continue the protracted service he had com- 
menced, will long be remembered in connection with religious revivals 
in Staunton. 

Being still in delicate health, in the Spring of 1885, his charge in- 
sisted that he should take rest, and, accordingly, he visited Thomas- 
ville, Georgia, and returned after two months' absence with the hope, 
which soon proved delusive, that he could renew his pulpit labors with 
safety to his health. 

PROFESSOR AT WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 

Rev. J. L. Kirkpatrick, D. D., who filled the Chair of Moral Phil- 
osophy and Belles-Lettres in Washington and Lee University, died in 
the early part of 1885. The attention of the trustees was directed to 
many eminent scholars from which to select to supply the vacancy. Dr. 
Strider was chosen, and, after due consideration, and with the hope 



[47] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



that the change of labor would be beneficial to his health, he accepted 
the appointment, and in September entered upon his new duties. 

In the meantime, the Church here not having as yet chosen his 
successor, his frequent visits here to preach and to administer the 
ordinances of marriage, to bury the dead and to offer consolation 
to the sick and distressed, increased the sincere affection which bound 
his former charge to him. 

THE OBSEQUIES 

At three p. m., Monday afternoon, the funeral cortege proceeded 
from the residence of Mr. Gooch to the First Presbyterian Church. 
The ministers in attendance were Reverends Henry S. White, of Win- 
chester; A. R. Cocke, of Waynesboro; H. H. Hawes, D. D., of the 
Second Presbyterian Church; James Nelson, D. D., of the Baptist, 
and W. Q. Hullihen, of the Episcopal. 

The Elders and Deacons of the Church had been designated as 
pall-bearers, and all, not absent or too much indisposed to be out, 
were in attendance, as follows : 

W. J. Nelson, Chas. Grattan, Henry D. Peck, D. A. Kayser, J.N. 
McFarland, Thomas A. Bledsoe, W. H. Weller, W. A. Burke, J. H. 
Blackley, H. F. Lyle, and Arista Hoge, Esqs., and Dr. N. Way t, Dr. 
Geo. S. Walker, and Prof. John Murray. As pall-bearers, also, were 
Professors A. L. Nelson and C. J. Harris, of Washington and Lee 
University, and Col. J. W. Lyell and Maj. F. H. Smith, Jr., of the 
Virginia Military Institute. 

At the Church Dr. Hawes and Revs. White and Cocke conducted 
the ceremonies— the two latter delivering tributes to the deceased, in 
which his lovely life, his genius and cultivation, and his services in the 
pulpit and lecture room were mentioned in feeling and appropriate 
terms. Mr. Hullihen delivered a deeply impressive prayer at the 
grave. 

The floral offerings were beautiful beyond description. Some of 
them came from the Augusta Female Seminary. A pillow of white 
hyacinths and chrysanthemums, with the word "Rest" in raised 
letters of double violets; a crescent and star of japonica, white 
hyacinths, and white pinks on an easel wrought of straw-fibre, were 
observed among the floral tributes. 

Three sisters and a brother of the deceased, with the father, were 
present. — From Staunton Spectator, January 27, 1886. 



[48] 



CHAPTER VI 



REV. D. K. MCFARLAND, D. D. 

iHE Rev. Dr. D. K. McFarland, of Oxford, Miss- 



issippi, visited the church by invitation in Decem- 



ber, 1885, and was immediately thereafter elected 
pastor. Accepting the office, he was installed March 21, 
1886. The installation committee were the Rev. Drs. 
James Murray and H. H. Hawes. 

REV. DR. D. K. MCFARLAND ENTERS UPON HIS DUTIES AS PASTOR OF 
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Rev. Dr. D. K. McFarland entered upon his duties as pastor of 
the First Presbyterian Church of this city last Sabbath under the 
most auspicious circumstances. The skies were bright with sunshine, 
and the weather, though in midwinter, was as mild as in May, and 
the spacious church was filled with a deeply interested congregation 
who could not have failed to be pleased with both the matter and 
manner of his discourse. His voice is good, his manner easy and 
graceful, his delivery fluent, his matter sound and solid, his arguments 
logical, and his style earnest, clear, plain and simple. 

The sermon in the morning was based on the text: Acts V: 42 — 
4 'And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to 
teach and preach Jesus Christ." He contrasted the manner of preach- 
ing in the days of the Apostles with that of the present age. The 
apostolic era was the heroic age of Christianity, when it was bold and 
aggressive— now it is timid and apologetic. The preachers at that 
time had but one mission and one theme, and that was Jesus Christ, 
the Prince and Saviour, and so it should be now ; and he announced 
upon the threshold of his ministry here that it was his purpose to 
preach the simple gospel in a simple way. The pulpit was not the 
place to please the people by well-written essays, and fine literary 
compositions, and eloquent discourses upon subjects affecting society 
or state, but for teaching and preaching Jesus Christ in the most 




[49] 




Rev. D, K. McFarland, D. P. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



earnest, direct, and simple manner for the salvation of souls. Persons 
should never leave the church and say that they had enjoyed a ' 'liter- 
ary treat. ' ' 

The sermon in the evening was founded on the text : St. John 
IV: 10—' 'Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift 
of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou 
wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living 
water." 

This sermon, like that in the morning, was marked by clearness of 
presentation and earnestness of manner. — From Staunton Spectator, 
February 17, 1886. 

After a ministry of about four years, Dr. McFarland's 
health began to fail because of a pulmonary trouble, con- 
tracted, it is thought, in the course of the loving pastoral 
ministrations for which he was so distinguished. His de- 
cline began at once and continued almost unbroken to the 
end, notwithstanding the most skillful medical attention 
at home and elsewhere and all that love could do in the 
home and by a devoted congregation. It was pathetic in 
the extreme to witness the gradual wasting away of that 
life so full and rich in all that goes to make a model min- 
ister of the gospel. 

Fully a year before the final dissolution of his pastoral 
relation, he insisted that his resignation should be accept- 
ed, but his loving people firmly refused to consent to it. 
At length it became a necessity and he was released from 
his office March 15, 1892. He lived for nearly a year after 
this. The greater part of that last year was spent away 
from Staunton in quest of relief. Throughout the time, 
the congregation with its affections and sympathies pro- 
foundly stirred, had almost daily tidings from him. 

He died in South Carolina, February 28, 1893, and, in 
accordance with the earnest wish of the congregation, his 
remains were brought to Staunton for interment. 

DEATH OF REV. D. K. McFARLAND, D. D. 

It is with inexpressible sorrow that we announce the death, after 
a protracted illness of pulmonary consumption, complicated with heart 



[51] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



disease, of Rev. D. K. McFarland, D. D., from March, 1886, to March, 
1892, the able and dearly beloved pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church of this city, which occurred at Maysville, 8. C, on Tuesday 
night of last week, Feb. 28th. He was a model minister, pastor, and 
Christian gentleman. His intellect was strong, his language pure, 
his manner earnest, and his disposition amiable, tender, and kind. He 
won the hearts of all who listened to his discourses or were brought 
into association with him in any way — those outside of the church or 
his denomination as well as those within — and his death is deeply 
and universally lamented. 

He was born in Oxford, Miss., in 1849, and was in the maturity of 
his faculties, enabling him to render good and valuable service if his 
health and life could have been preserved. His mother was a Miss Mor- 
rison, of North Carolina, a cousin of Mrs. 1 'Stonewall" Jackson,and his 
wife was a Miss Witherspoon of South Carolina, who, with his two 
daughters — Nannie and Abbie — survive to mourn their irreparable loss. 
His daughters are pupils of the Augusta Female Seminary. He was 
educated at the University of Mississippi, and afterwards at the 
Columbia (S. C.) Theological Seminary. His first pastorate was at 
Savannah, Ga., and then at Oxford, Miss., from which he was called 
to the First Presbyterian Church of this city, to fill the vacancy 
caused by the lamented death of Rev. Dr. J. P. Strider. 

In compliance with his expressed wishes, his remains were brought 
to this city for interment. They arrived here on Friday morning, and 
the funeral services took place at 11 o'clock at the First Presbyterian 
Church, which was filled with his sorrowing admirers and friends. 
After lying in state in the vestibule for half an hour, the remains, at 
11 o'clock, were borne into the church by the active pall-bearers, 
W. A. Burke, H. F. Lyle, H. A. Walker, J. A. Templeton, Jas. H. 
Blackley, J. W. Alby, W. H. Weller, Arista Hoge and Dr. S. H. 
Henkel, and placed in front of the pulpit. 

The following were the honorary pall-bearers (both the active and 
honorary be'ing officers of the church) J. N. McFarland, Professor 
John Murray, Judge Charles Grattan, D. A. Kayser, Dr. N. Wayt, 
Dr. George S. Walker, Hon. J. A. Waddell and H. L. Hoover. 

As the remains were borne in, the hymn, "Come unto me when 
the shadows darkly gather, " etc. was sweetly sung by Messrs. Ed. 
Timberlake and C. R. Caldwell, and Misses Fannie and Ella Paris. 

Then "Rock of Ages" was sung by the same with the addition of 
Mrs. Mary Crawford D arrow, of the Augusta Female Seminary. 

Then an appropriate prayer was offered by Rev. G. W. Finley, 
D. D., pastor of Tinkling Spring Church. Rev. J. E. Booker, pastor 
of Hebron Church, then read the scripture lessons, after which brief, 



[52] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



but eloquent and touching, tributes to the memory of the deceased 
were delivered by Rev. Dr. Finley and Rev. J. S. Gardner, D. D., Pre- 
siding Elder of this District of the Baltimore Conference of the M. E. 
Church South. 

Mrs. Darrow then sang "Come ye Disconsolate," etc. 

Then Dr. McCoy,* of South Carolina, a physician, who attended 
Dr. McFarland during his last illness, in compliance with the wishes 
of the family of the deceased, and on their part expressed their great 
appreciation of the affection and kindness of the congregation. He 
spoke also of the last moments of the deceased and the sublime Chris- 
tian resignation he manifested. 

The closing prayer was offered by Rev. W. Q. Hullihen, rector of 
Trinity Episcopal Church, when the services at the church were con- 
cluded by the singing of the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," etc. 

The remains were then taken to Thornrose cemetery and buried 
beside those of Rev. J. P. Strider, D. D.—From Staunton Spectator, 
March 8, 1893. 

At a meeting of the Session of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Staunton, on March 5, 1893, the following 
memorial of their late pastor was adopted and ordered to 
be recorded and published : 

Mr. McFarland was borne March 10, 1848, near Oxford, Mississippi, 
and educated at the University of that State and the Theological 
Seminary at Columbia, South Carolina. His first ministerial work 
was as pastor of Hopewell Church, in which he was baptized and 
reared, and to which he was invited before he left the Seminary in 
May, 1873. Having served this church for eighteen months, he ac- 
cepted a call to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
Savannah, Georgia. During his residence there of about seven years, 
the city was devastated by yellow fever, and remaining at his post, he 
fell a victim to the disease and suffered a protracted illness, from 
which, however, he entirely recovered. In January, 1877, he was 
married to Miss Annie R. Witherspoon, of South Carolina. Receiving 
a call to Oxford, Mississippi, he ministered to that people from about 
1882 till 1886. On the 21st of March, 1886, he was installed by Lex- 
ington Presbytery pastor of this church. His health failing, the rela- 
tion was dissolved March 15, 1892. He died near Maysville, S. C, at 



*Note— The gentleman here referred to is the Rev. W. J. McKay, D, D., an eminent 
minister of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, and a brother-in-law of Dr. 
McFarland. The name is pronounced "McCoy," hence the mistake above. 



[53] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the former home of his wife, at 11 o'clock Tuesday night, February 
28, 1893, leaving a widow and two young daughters. 

For the rest, despairing of finding words of our own to express 
our appreciation of our late pastor, and our grief on account of his 
early death, we gladly adopt the following tribute prepared by the 
Rev. D. W. Shanks, D. D., in every sentiment of which we heartily 
concur: 

"We are often, in obituaries, under the stress of friendship and 
sympathy, tempted beyond the point of resistance, to indulge in ex- 
cessive praise of the dead. But in this instance there is little danger 
of transgressing the bounds of propriety and truth and offending pub- 
lic sentiment by unmerited eulogy. The difficulty here is to do, in a 
brief sketch, complete justice to an uncommon life and an exalted 
character. 

"Dr. McFarland was an extraordinary man .That he was so re- 
garded in this community there is abundant evidence. Very few men 
in so short a time have ever made such an abiding impression for good 
upon a community; won such universal and unstinted admiration, and 
entrenched themselves so strongly in the esteem, sympathy and love 
of all classes as he did. Tongues which lashed all others have either 
spoken his praise or been dumb under the spell of him who 

Thro' all this tract of years, 

Wore the white flower of a blameless life. 

1 'He was one of the few who never uttered an imprudent word, or 
did an unwise thing. In his singularly acute sense of propriety and 
his intuitive and almost infallible appreciation of the fitness of things, 
his people safely trusted. They were never disquieted by the fear 
that through either forgetfulness or wilful disregard of the counsels 
of Christian prudence, he would, in what he said or did, offend the 
taste or wound the feelings of any, or fail to receive the approbation 
of all. He was a Christian gentleman in the best sense of these words, 
and always manifested in word and manner a sincere regard for the 
feelings of others. He possessed, in an unusual degree, the gift of a 
wise reticence, the happy talent of saying in perfect consistency with 
loyalty to truth and righteousness, just enough to satisfy the obliga- 
tion of the occasion without unnecessarily disclosing his whole mind 
and provoking a personal antagonism and resentment which would en- 
danger his influence for good in respect to other matters and occa- 
sions. But this reserve never embarrassed his social intercourse or 
restrained him from a hearty participation, within the limits of Chris- 
tian ethics, in the "feast of reason and flow of soul." To those who 
knew him well, his fellowship was enticing and enjoyable, and his 



[54] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



manners engaging, and affable to the edge of a becoming intimacy 
and companionship. He was dignified, but easily accessible ; serious, 
but not sad ; sober, but not gloomy ; religious, but not morose — in 
touch with every rational enjoyment, and a patron of everything that 
is helpful and tends to bring to us, in this life, all that is possible of 
heaven this side of the actual vision and possession of that eternal 
and proffered asylum for all sinners and all sufferers. 

"His pulpit manners were peculiarly solemn. His reading of the 
Scriptures could hardly have been more reverential if he had been 
standing before the great white throne and under the eye of Him who 
sits thereon. His prayers were humble, reverential, thankful, im- 
portunate, particular and comprehensive, disclosing a deep and throb- 
bing sympathy with his people in their temptation, infirmities, needs 
and sorrows, and animated by that faith which "leans hard" upon our 
Elder Brother, and sees 

'Neath winter's field and snow 

The silent harvest of the future good. 

"His sermons, simple, logical and definite in structure, were never 
marred by the decorations of a garish rhetoric or the confusing corus- 
cations of genius which "blind with excessive light." The usual ex- 
position of the context, which was singularly clear and instructive, 
prepared his hearers for the oncoming discussion, the distinguishing 
features of which were transparency and force. The matter of his 
sermons was practical and varied, and adapted to the spiritual needs 
of a large and diversified congregation. While there was nothing 
offensive in his exposures of the nature, deadly influence, and certain 
end of sin, unless forgiven, there was also no uncertain sound — no 
timid, apologetic criminal cry of peace ! peace ! when there was no 
peace. He often preached as one who had a dread of having the blood of 
souls upon him. But he loved to discuss the great underlying principles 
of the Gospel in their manifold relations, and to reach and move 
men through the truth savingly applied by the Holy Ghost. Some- 
times he broke forth in impassioned remonstrance and appeals, and in 
his visions of the heavenly state with its eternal fruition, he exhibited 
the precious promises and hopes of the Gospel, all ablaze with the 
coming glory. In a word, from beginning to end, from the first syl- 
lable of invocation to the last word of benediction, his pulpit perform- 
ances were marked by reverence and profound conviction of a living 
and personal God, and singleness of purpose — the one end of all being 
to save men and exalt God, and whatever other impression was made, 
this one every reflecting hearer certainly carried away with him — 
"there is one man who believes what he preaches." 



[55] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



As a pastor, Dr. McFarland was a model of wisdom, tact, and 
fidelity. He was affable, untiring, self-denying; in touch with high 
and low, rich and poor, the recognized friend of all ; suffering that 
others might rejoice; a benediction in the house of affliction; the 
blessed comforter at the couch of the sick and dying, and the grave of 
the dead. And so, regardless of the remonstrances of friendship, the 
appeals of his suffering body, and the wishes of an affectionate and 
fearful people, he went about doing good , pouring out a feeble and 
waning life in countless channels of blessing, till at last, under the 
burden of a great and felt responsibility, and worn down by the 
chafings of a soul which could never rest as long as anything remained 
to be done, like a hero — as he was — with the banner of his Master in 
his hand, he fell prostrate in the house of God. And then through the 
succeeding months of decline and suffering, during all which, however 
thick earth's damps, it was to him "always daylight towards the 
Father's face," he waited patiently for the final summons, and that 
last day, which was no doubt to him a bright day— 

"The bridal of the earth and sky." 

"Is it any wonder that his stricken people asked the privilege of 
being the guardians of his dust in this city where his character and 
life have already builded for him a monument more lasting than 
marble or brass. 

Servant of God, well done ! 

Rest from thy loved employ ; 
The battle fought, the victory won. 

Enter thy Master's joy.' 




[56] 



CHAPTER VII 



THE REV. D. W. SHANKS, D. D. 

By REV. A. M. FRASER, D. D. 

THAT period in the experience of the First Church 
which was covered by the ministry of the Rev. Dr. 
D. W. Shanks will never be forgotten by any one who 
was present. Dr. Shanks was not the pastor of the church, 
but acted as stated supply for two years. He began at the 
time when Dr. McFarland's failing health compelled him 
to suspend his labors, and continued after the dissolution 
of the pastoral relation and until another pastor arrived. 
During that time the hearts of the people were tender 
with sympathy and anxiety for the greatly loved pastor, 
whose health was steadily declining and whose sufferings 
were intense. They needed consolation and were, to an 
unusual degree, susceptible to the ministrations of religion. 
Dr. Shanks, by his poise and dignity, his cheerful, genial 
and affectionate disposition, and his strong, bright, hope- 
ful preaching, proved the very minister to supply their 
needs. Not only our own congregation but the whole com- 
munity was drawn to him. 

It is therefore proper that this book should contain 
some account of his life. The following sketch has been 
culled from obituary and memorial tributes and newspaper 
articles appearing at the time of his death. 

David William Shanks was born in Fincastle, Botetourt 
County, Virginia, December 11, 1830. His parents were 
devout members of the Episcopal Church, but as his mother 
died when he was eighteen months old, he was reared by 
his father's sister, Mrs. John T. Anderson, the wife of a 
Presbyterian elder. She gave him a mother's love and 

[57] 




Rev. David William Shanks, D. D. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



watchful care till he was sixteen years of age, when he 
left her home for his education. It was years afterwards, 
however, before the godly training bore fruit and the 
prayers were answered in an impressive conversion. 

He was educated at New London Academy, in Bedford 
County, Virginia, and at Washington College, now Wash- 
ington and Lee University. He studied law at the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, under Prof. John B. Minor. Not finding 
the profession congenial, he abandoned it within a few 
months and went into merchandizing in Memphis, Tennes- 
see, and was very successful. In 1859 a remarkable revival 
of religion swept over Memphis and he was converted, his 
conversion occurring in an obscure Methodist church. 
He did not join the church until he could decide which of 
the existing denominations appealed to him as being nearest 
the Bible model. He did, however, begin active Christian 
work at once by holding prayer meetings in destitute parts 
of the city. It was not long before he joined the Presby- 
terian Church, and soon recognized his call to the ministry. 
He attended Union Theological Seminary and completed 
the course there in two years. He was licensed to preach 
by the Presbytery of Montgomery, April 27, 1861. The 
next fall he took charge of the church at Amelia Court 
House which he served successively as supply and pastor 
for six years. He was then called to be the pastor of 
Falling Spring Church to which he ministered for sixteen 
years. Here he continually grew upon the love and con- 
fidence of the people and in the esteem of his brethren 
in the ministry. While here he received from Washington 
and Lee University the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
When his health became impaired his people still clung to 
him and to the hope of his restoration. Only after every 
recourse was exhausted did they reluctantly consent to 
release him from the pastoral tie. He was never able to 



[59] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



resume pastoral duties. He spent the remainder of his 
life in Lexington, Virginia, and was usually engaged in 
supplying vacant churches. 

Allusion has already been made to the peculiar condi- 
tions under which he came to supply the First Church, 
Staunton, and to the gracious adaptation of his presence and 
ministry to the needs of the congregation at this time. 
His last sermon as supply is worthy of special mention. 
The occasion itself was eloquent, Dr. McFarland had been 
buried two days before. On the next Sabbath another 
pastor was to take charge. A new era, with tremendous 
issues and uncertain results, was about to open. Dr. 
Shanks appreciated the full significance of the critical 
moment and justly portrayed it in his sermon. The 
Staunton Spectator said of it : * ' His morning sermon was 
unusually solemn and excellent. The subject was the 
qualifications of a minister of the gospel and his need of 
the support and prayers of his people. At the close he 
became truly eloquent, 'on Friday last/ said he, 'the 
remains of your late pastor were laid by loving hands in 
Thornrose Cemetery, and on next Sunday your new pastor 
will occupy this pulpit. 7 stand between the living and the 
dead. Oh, that the mantle of McFarland may fall upon 
his successor ! ' The whole sermon was excellent, and 
there is a general desire for its publication/' 

Only once more did he appear in our pulpit. At the 
request of the Presbytery of Lexington (of which he was 
not a member) he took part in the installation of the new 
pastor, March 21, 1903. A few months after this he began 
to supply the church at Danville, Virginia. While serving 
that church he was overtaken by his last illness. The kind, 
Christian home of Mr. W. B. Brooks, an elder of the church, 
was opened to him and there he received from the family 
and whole congregation every attention that Christian love 
and open-hearted liberality could devise. His illness was 



[60] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of two weeks duration and was full of suffering. He died 
just after midnight in the morning of March 4, 1894, in 
the 64th year of his age. A telegram announcing his death 
reached this city that evening while the First Church was 
engaged in worship. Just after the bendiction had been 
pronounced and the congregation had turned to leave the 
house, a signal from the pulpit arrested them, while the 
pastor read the telegram. ' 1 Immediately a death-like hush 
fell upon the Congregation, and it silently filed out with a 
silence and awe that was eloquent with deep feeling. ,, 

The body was taken to Lexington for burial. A sim- 
ple service was held in the Presbyterian Church there, 
participated in by the Rev. T. L. Preston, D. D., the Rev. 
J. A. Quarles, D. D., and the Rev. D. C. Irwin. The fu- 
neral was attended by the following delegation from 
Staunton, appointed by the Session of the Church : J. N. 
McFarland, Henry L. Hoover, Charles Grattan, J. Howard 
Wayt, J. A. Templeton and William A. Burke. A number 
of others from Staunton, ladies and gentlemen, young and 
old, from within the church and without, also attended out 
of personal respect and affection for the deceased man of 
God. 

Dr. Shanks was twice married, first to Miss Niles, of 
Holly Springs, Mississippi, and after her death to Miss 
Juliet Irvine, of Bedford County, Virginia. His second 
wife still survives. She was his loving and efficient co- 
laborer in the years of his sound health and vigorous 
ministry and, by her faith and courage, his solace and 
inspiration through the long period of his ill health and 
his trials. 

One who knew him well wrote of him thus : "Dr. 
Shanks was a man of fine presence. Somewhat above the 
average height, he carried himself with ease and dignity. 
His face was of a kind to arrest attention and attract con- 
fidence, intelligent, manly, genial. Few men were more 
generally welcome in the social circle than he. Wherever 



[61] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



he entered he carried sunshine with him. He had the 
happy art of drawing to him the young and the old, the 
poor and the rich. Firm in his convictions, inflexible in his 
maintenance of them, he nevertheless knew how to treat 
with proper consideration and courtesy those who differed 
from him. 

' ' As a preacher, Dr. Shanks was fortunate in that he 
commanded the admiration not only of the pews, but also 
of his ministerial brethren as well. He ranked easily 
among the foremost preachers of our Church. He was 
specially happy in the use of illustrations. His were 
always judiciously introduced and never permitted to 
usurp an undue prominence or to divert the attention 
from the subject in hand. Withal there was an element 
of native, irrepressible humor in the man which would 
from time to time assert itself in his preaching with the 
happiest effect. It was kept well in hand and never 
allowed to approach levity. 

"He was gifted as a presbyter as well as preacher, a 
ready and able debater, a wise counsellor, and with a 
modest and genial nature that made his presence greatly 
valued by his brethren. 

The most beautiful and attractive aspects of his noble 
character were seen only in his home. He was gentle 
and patient towards all around him, lenient towards their 
faults and appreciative of their excellencies. He was 
most unselfish, seeking ever to forget his own trials by 
ministering to the happiness of those around him. He was 
called to undergo pains and trials such as fall to the lot of 
few men, and these sufferings were enhanced by anxieties 
for a large and dependent family and by the disappoint- 
ment of cherished hopes, but his faith was equal to the 
task. He was not broken nor soured by the discipline, but 
only matured by it. Of him it can be truly said his was 
'A winter faith which braved the Northern blast, 
And blossomed in the rigor of its fate.' " 



[62] 



CHAPTER VIII 



REV. ABEL McIVER FRASER, D. D. 
(A sketch copied with some changes from Men of Mark in Virginia) 

FRASER, ABEL McIVER, D. D., minister of the Pres- 
byterian Church, was born in Sumter county, South 
Carolina, June 14, 1856, and his parents were Judge 
Thomas Boone Fraser and Sarah Margaret Mclver. His 
earliest known ancestor was Andrew Moore, who came 
from County Antrim, Ireland, to Sadsbury, Pennsylvania, 
in 1723 ; another was John Fraser who came from Scot- 
land to Georgetown, South Carolina, 1745 ; and still an- 
other was Roderick Mclver, who came from Scotland to 
Welsh Neck settlement, Darlington county, South Caro- 
lina, previous to 1761. Probably his most distinguished 
ancestor was Col. Andrew Love, who fought on the Amer- 
ican side in the battle of King's Mountain. Evander Mc- 
lver was a soldier on the same side in the War of the 
Revolution. 

In childhood and youth the subject of our sketch was 
well and strong. His home was in a town of about four 
thousand inhabitants, but he made frequent and extended 
visits to the country. At the age of seven years he lost 
his mother, and when the war closed he was only nine 
years old. His experience in the trying times following 
the war taught him never to be ashamed of any honest 
work and to respect every man who works. 

He had no difficulty in obtaining an education beyond 
that inherent in the task and the trouble of weak eyes. 
He was prepared for college by Thomas P. McQueen in 
Sumter county, South Corolina, and having attended 
Davidson College, North Carolina, for the usual time he 

[63] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



received, in 1876, the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Hav- 
ing, from his earliest years, felt the call to preach, he at- 
tended the Columbia Theological Seminary, South Carolina, 
for three years, was graduated in 1880, and during the 
same year he began the active work of life at Frank- 
fort, Kentucky. From 1881 to 1893 he was pastor of Mt. 
Horeb Church in Fayette county, Kentucky, and for a part 
of that time Walnut Hill and Bethel churches in the same 
county were grouped with Mt. Horeb under his care. From 
March, 1893, to the present (1908) time he has been pas- 
tor of the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton, Virginia. 
He was moderator of the Presbytery of West Lexington 
in September, 1881 ; of the Presbytery of Lexington in 
October, 1894 ; and of the Synod of Virginia in October, 
1903. He was also a member of the Southern Presby- 
terian General Assembly at Atlanta in 1882, and in New 
Orleans in 1898. In 1904 he was elected co-ordinate secre- 
tary of foreign missions for the Southern Presbyterian 
Church, but declined the honor. In 1896, he was given 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity by his alma mater, David- 
son College, North Carolina and from Central University 
of Kentucky the same year. 

In 1901 Dr. Fraser, received an invitation to the pas- 
torate of the First Church of Macon, Georgia, but declined 
the call in deference to the wishes of his friends in Staun- 
ton. The following is an extract from an article which ap- 
peared in the "Staunton Daily News," January 20, 1901 : 
' 'Dr. Fraser has served the First Church (of Staunton) 
about eight years, having been called here from Kentucky, 
succeeding the late Rev. Dr. D. K. McFarland. Coming 
into the Lexington Presbytery and the Synod of Virginia 
as a stranger he has gradually come to be one of the most 
influential ministers in those bodies. His progress has not 
been made by any self-seeking on his part, for it would be 
difficult to find a man of greater modesty and humility, 
but it has been due to his simple and lovable ways, coupled 



[64] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



with marked ability as a man and preacher. Presby- 
terians have found him a clear expounder of the Scriptures 
of the old Scotch Covenanter type, who has himself found 
in them consolation and been able to bring it to others 
without seeking new interpretations or casting aside the 
old doctrines. His influence in the community in bring- 
ing all denominations into close fellowship, whilst quietly 
and unostentatiously exercised, has been very great. In his 
own congregation this quiet force has produced results for 
good that are incalculable and will prove lasting. In the 
county also affection for Dr. Fraser is deep-rooted, and 
many tender expressions came from county Presbyterians 
yesterday, who heard of the call." 

Dr. Fraser is chaplain of the Sons of Confederate Vet- 
erans of Staunton, Virginia. His favorite relaxation is 
walking and quiet home games. 

In reply to the question what books he had found 
most helpful in fitting him for his work in life, he 
answers : ' 1 read the Bible through when I was thirteen 
years old. That impressed me more than any other read- 
ing I ever did. Next to that in effect upon me was Pil- 
grim's Progress. While studying geometry, logic, and 
the evidences of Christianty, I felt an expansion of mind 
such as I have never undergone at any other time/ 7 

Asked to state any lesson from partial failures for the 
sake of helping young people, Dr. Fraser says ; "A 
closer application to study in my college days would have 
enabled me to attain greater success. I have very often 
been unable to avail myself of opportunities for the lack 
of what I might easily have acquired at college. Subse- 
quent application has never satisfactorily restored what I 
then lost." He has much that is valuable to say of the 
best means of promoting sound ideals in American life : 
' 'Belief in a personal God : a conviction of man's fall from 
a primative state of holiness and the possibility of restor- 
ation through those divine arrangements known as The 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Plan of Salvation ; a sense of stewardship to God in 
all possessions (property, position, influence, friendship, 
endowments of mind and body, etc. ) ; and appreciation of 
the illimitable opportunities for personal development and 
service afforded by voluntary surrender of one's self to 
God and anticipation of the heavenly glory, supply a 
motive power in human life with which nothing else can 
compare." 

Among the influences which have shaped his life he 
reckons the influences of home as supreme — the home of 
his childhood and that of his married life. The effect 
of early companionship was partly bad, but for the most 
part negative. Hardly any difference existed in the force 
of the influences of school, private study and contact 
with men in active life— all of which were distinct and 
strong. 

On July 14, 1881, he married Octavia Blanding, a 
daughter of Col. James D. Blanding, who was an officer in 
the Mexican War, and commanded a regiment in the Con- 
federate army. Six children were born to them of whom 
five survive at the present writing. 




[66] 



CHAPTER IX 



A MISSIONARY CHURCH. 

THE present pastor is the Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., 
who was installed May 21, 1893. A native of South 
Carolina, he was at the time of his call to Staunton, 
pastor of Mt. Horeb and Bethel Churches in Kentucky. 
Following two learned, eloquent and much beloved pastors, 
he naturally had a difficult task to perform to please his 
new congregation ; but the warmth of the welcome he re- 
ceived has grown into a steady flame of devotion as the years 
have gone by, the relation of pastor and flock having be- 
come a very close and tender one. Dr. Fraser holds to 
the simple faith of the old Scotch Church, and preaches 
it with a sincerity and a fervor that have carried conviction 
to many hearts. He is no less loved and honored by the 
church at large in Virginia than by his home people, and 
best of all, is beloved by all the people of this community, 
regardless of creed and station. 

Since Dr. Fraser has been pastor of the First Church, 
the membership of the church has increased, and it has 
become more and more a Missionary Church. Missionary 
societies have multiplied, and the church has more con- 
tributors to all causes than ever before. The offerings 
for Home and Foreign Missions now exceed the amount 
contributed by the church in the lifetime of Miss 
Mary Julia Baldwin- whose contributions to these causes 
made up forty to sixty per cent, of the whole amount con- 
tributed by the church. There are single contributors 
who are quite liberal, but no one contributor has taken 
Miss Baldwin's place, her mantle and blessing having fal- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



len on numbers of small contributors. Dr. Fraser's earn- 
est appeals to carry the Gospel to all parts of the world 
have not fallen on deaf ears. 

SOCIETY FOR WOMAN'S WORK. 

When Dr. McFarland organized the Society for 
Woman's Work one of its Committees was the Missions 
Committee. Before this the women of the church gave at 
the church collections but there was no systematic and 
distinctive mission work done by them. 

After several years it was found that one committee 
could not attend to all that was desired for Home and 
Foreign Missions and two committees were established to 
work for these objects respectively. They continued as 
committees until the formation in 1905 of the ' 'Women's 
Missionary Union of Lexington Presbytery," in order to 
join the union the Mission Committees separated from the 
society for Woman's Work and organized as societies. 

The Home Missions Committee for years under the 
efficient leadership of Mrs. Davis Kay ser was an important 
factor in the work at Olivet, and by sending boxes and 
other contributions, aid was given to weak churches in the 
Home Mission field. This was continued after the death 
of Mrs. Kayser. 

On the appointment of Mrs. Peale as chairman, she 
made a house to house canvass of the congregation and 
greatly increased the membership and interest in this 
Society. 

Miss Mattoon succeeded as leader and with her assis- 
tants the work is carried on with enthusiasm — The Society 
gives statedly to Synod's Home Missions, and to that of 
Lexington Presbytery and to Olivet. 

Miss Nellie Van Lear, before going as a missionary of 
the China Inland Mission, organized a Young Ladies' 
Foreign Missionary Society. These ladies uniting with 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the members of the Foreign Mission's Committee now 
form the Woman's Foreign Mission Society. 

The object of this society is to study systematically 
the subject of missions and to contribute regularly to the 
cause.— It gives to the support of "Our Foreign Mission- 
ary' ' and also to other needs as they are presented. 

Mrs. Dubose, one of our missionaries to China, spent 
a winter in Staunton and formed a society among the 
little girls. This has grown into the Young Ladies' Mis- 
sionary Society. They aid in the support of "Our Foreign 
Missionary," give to other causes in both the home and 
foreign field and make a regular study of missions. 

A Children's Missionary Society has been organized to 
interest the little ones in missions. 

In an enumeration of the mission work of the societies 
of the church, we should not omit that done by "The 
Covenanters" who though not called a Mission Society con- 
tribute liberally to both Home and Foreign Missions. 

Almost all the societies donate smaller or larger sums 
to Home Missions. 

The Ladies' Aid has for years been an important con- 
tributor to Olivet and has aided by boxes as they heard of 
special cases of need, and there is also a Junior Aid Society 
engaged in similar work. 

The Woman's Work also besides its work for our own 
' church, contributes to Olivet, and when possible to special 
appeals. 

The following paper copied from the Central Presby- 
terian of June 14, 1905, was read at a meeting of the 
Women's Missionary Union of Lexington Presbytery by 
Mrs. Joseph A. Waddell : 

WHAT THE WOMEN OF LEXINGTON PRESBYTERY CAN DO 
FOR MISSIONS 

In The Missionary was found at one time the diagram of a clock 
with the hands pointing to the hour of noon. This indicated that in 
the mission rooms of the various societies at that hour daily, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



prayer is made for the spread of the gospel and for God's blessing 
upon those laboring to carry the glad tidings to all people. It seems 
appropriate that as the sun travels from land to land flooding the 
earth with his noontide glory, at that hour, in every Christian nation, 
earnest prayers are ascending that the Sun of Righteousness will 
illumine all the dark places of the earth, until moral night shall be 
no more. 

I speak to busy women who may not be able to use that emblem- 
atic hour ; but the lesson of a set season for daily prayer remains. 
Should every Christian woman in Lexington Presbytery set aside a 
few moments daily for earnest, definite prayer for the coming of the 
kingdom, can we doubt the Pentecostal blessing that would follow ? 

The gifts of women are prominent in the gospel records. It was a 
widow who was commended by the Master. She cast two mites into 
the treasury. Women ministered to him of their substance. A 
woman anointed his feet with costly ointment, and bathed them with 
her tears. Another broke the alabaster box of precious ointment upon 
his person, filling the house with its odor and the world ever since with 
the perfume of her love and gratitude, for wherever "this gospel is 
preached shall this be told for a memorial of her." 

Is it not for our instruction that the extremes are recorded — the 
gift of poverty and that of the alabaster vase deemed an offering 
worthy of a king's acceptance ? The Lord looked at the love, and 
where that is found the offering will be of good measure. 

Whatever be the method of bringing our gifts — whether a penny 
a day, a thank offering for each constantly recurring mercy, or a 
proportion of what God has given let it be a systematic and commen- 
surate offering to the Lord. 

Lexington Presbytery has given to the missionary work many sons 
and daughters. In every country where our church has established 
missions, there have been or are missionaries from the Presbytery. If 
in the future, as in the past, the Holy Spirit whispers to some woman 
in our midst, ' 'Carry the good news to those who have not heard the 
glad tidings in our own land, or in foreign countries," let her not be 
disobedient to the heavenly call. We cannot all go, but thank God 
we can serve the cause of missions in our churches. 

The call is just as much that of the Holy Spirit when he says stay 
and work, as when he says go and work. In each case it is the voice 
of the Master who commands, and it is the Holy Spirit who empowers; 
in each case the responsibility and privilege is the same when the 
obedient soul says here am I, use me ; the sin and disgrace the same 
in resisting the command. 

How are you to know when you are called to special service in the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



home work. Sometimes others see that you are the one for a particu- 
lar service. If the pastor and judicious friends urge it, be very- 
sure that God has not called you before you decline to take up the labor. 
Sometimes you see clearly that something ought to be done in the 
church; bourne in upon me, we say, very likely then it ought to be 
bourne in upon you that you are the person to work for the advance- 
ment of that cause. 

Do you say, "I am not fit?" Paul said, "Who is sufficient ?" and 
if he was not sufficient for his work, be sure you will not be for yours. 
Paul's history teaches where only strength for service can be found. 
If one gladly does what his hands find to do, the way opens for doing 
more. "The reward of service is more service." 

These three things, then, can the women of Lexington Presby- 
tery do for missions ; Pray regularly and earnestly ; give system- 
atically and proportionately, and above all, surrender themselves to 
the Lord for service when and where He may direct. 

When asked to take this subject for a paper, it was urged that 
some practical suggestions on ways of working, founded on experi- 
ence, would be helpful. Let me say to those who have recently be- 
come leaders, to successfully conduct a society means work. There 
must be constant vigilance in this, as in every other occupation, if 
good results are to be attained. With the mind constantly on the 
thought of missions, one comes across a surprising number of inter- 
esting items in the secular papers and magazines. The ubiquitous 
shoe box comes in handily, labelled with the country or topic ; let the 
appropriate clipping and tract be put into it. A moment's work, and 
the matter can be brought out whenever needed without a search, 
which uses up time and strength. 

If possible, let every member of the society subscribe to The Mis- 
sionary, and it can be made the basis of much study. I would suggest 
that either the president subscribe for the Missionary Review of the 
World, or the Society for her. For seventeen years that periodical 
has never failed to furnish the very information needed in a condensed 
and striking form. These two magazines should be filed, and if the 
files belong to the society, in case of a new president, the files should 
be sent to her as a part of her necessary outfit. As well expect a 
carpenter to work without tools, as a leader without materials for in- 
creasing her own knowledge and diffusing it. Good missionary books 
and other good periodicals are of great value, but for making interest- 
ing programmes I know of nothing that exceeds a right use of The 
Missionary, The Review, clippings, and well selected tracts and booklets. 

Some suggestions about the meetings of the societies may not be 
amiss. These should always begin with devotional exercises. We all 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



know the natural shrinkage from leading in prayer— prayer the most 
sacred exercise which the soul can perform. To one unaccustomed to 
praying in public, I would suggest writing out the prayer beforehand, 
to give definiteness to the petitions. Pray it over to the Lord as well 
as pray for his grace for the time of trial. If possible, get other 
ladies to join, at first in sentence prayer, with only one definite peti- 
tion. Some of the happiest meetings, our society has had, have been 
when several, one after another, prayed in this way. The Bible gives 
beautiful short prayers, which may be committed to memory and re- 
peated till one ceases to dread the sound of her own voice. 

For years the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the First 
Church, Staunton, has used the Missionary Lesson Leaf. It gives a 
responsive reading of well selected verses of Scripture, two hymns, 
and closes with a short prayer to be said in unison. The missionary 
information is valuable, and can often be so used as to assist with the 
subject of that meeting. The price, for thirteen copies to one address 
for every month for a year, is one dollar. I have bought a number of 
leaflets, which contain the address and terms, and will serve as sample 
copies for any one who may wish to have one. 

Taking one of the great mission fields for study at a meeting is a 
natural thought, and will be found very profitable. When possible, it 
is well to give two meetings to one country, as the missions have so 
increased that even a bird's eye view cannot be gained at one time. 

The study of one number of The Missionary has been used with 
benefit. As the issue of the current month would not arrive in time, 
it is well to take The Missionary of a month or two previous, and 
formulate and distribute the questions on it. In this way the ground 
is more thoroughly covered than in reading The Missionary as it comes 
out. 

For several years, as we know, text-books have been prepared for 
study classes. 1902— Via Christi, an introduction to the study of mis- 
sions. 1903 — Lux Christi, an outline study of India. 1904— Rex Christus, 
of China. 1905— Dux Christus, of Japan. Also Sunrise in the Sunrise 
Kingdom. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, First Church, 
Staunton, has been studying the last named volume with a marked in- 
crease of interest); indeed the enthusiasm excited has been great, 
owing, no doubt in part to the war in the East, which is engaging the 
attention of the world. But, with due allowance for this, the more 
accurate and full knowledge of any heathen people, of their needs, of 
the efforts being made by consecrated, heroic men and women for their 
salvation, must warm the hearts and enthuse the minds of intelligent 
Christian women. Without knowledge it is impossible to interest, 
without more knowledge, to maintain that interest. The present war 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



is a striking illustration of this. Attention having been turned to the 
nations in deadly conflict, everything that concerns them is read and 
discussed with avidity. Maps are eagerly scanned for places until 
lately unheard of, and men with outlandish names have become house- 
hold words. 

A few years ago Dr. Paton, of the New Hebrides, lectured in 
Staunton to a crowded audience. We had his life in our missionary 
library. A few faithful sisters had read it, and fewer brothers. The 
demand for it now became so great by those within and without the 
society, that we had to lend it with the proviso that in should be read 
quickly and passed on to a specified person. 

This brings me to the importance of a missionary library. Let 
quality rather than quantity be the aim. Add one or two books a 
year, and get a librarian who has read and can recommend them from 
her personal enjoyment of them. I regard the proper librarian as al- 
most as important as good books. Busy people need tactful pressing 
to undertake a book, and yet love to hear of what is being done by our 
modern Pauls, and may I add, Priscillas. 

It may at first be difficult to get the members to take a part in the 
study programme. At first give only short readings ; then ask that 
the matter be told instead of read. After a while the members to 
condense longer articles, only reading some striking quotations. On 
some occasions the salient points of a whole book have been presented 
in twenty or thirty minutes. 

The main object has been the increase of missionary knowledge 
and zeal, but a second result has been an intellectual benefit. Our 
minds become incrusted with the daily cares in serving the physical 
wants of our families ; the intellectual, and above all, the spiritual, 
need these helps to greater development. 

Try to get the members in rotation to take charge of the meetings. 
It lightens the burden of the president gives variety in the treatment 
and adds interest, as we will enjoy what we have taken an active 
part in. 

In closing let me entreat that prayer be constantly made for the 
race of continuance. "Ye did run well" for a time, is written on many 
a promising society. Zeal will flag, enthusiasm wax cold, and then 
the sense of responsiblity to Him who was ever mindful of the work 
the Father gave Him to do, will enable us to be faithful to the end. 
Let "patient continuance" be the motto of all who strive to advance 
the kingdom, knowing that ' 'all the promises of God, in him are yea, 
and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us. ' ' 

Staunton, Va. Mrs. J. Addison Waddell. 



[73] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



STATISTICAL REPORT TO PRESBYTERY. 
Annual Report of the First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Va., 



to Presbytery, for the year ending March 31, 1908. 

Elders - 10 

Deacons 12 

Communicants added on Examination 10 

Communicants added on Certificate 16 

Total of Communicants ... 596 

Adult Baptisms 4 

Infant Baptisms 7 

Baptised Non-Communicants 105 

Officers and Teachers in Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes 35 

Scholars in Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes 418 

FUNDS CONTRIBUTED. 

Foreign Missions $1963 28 

Assembly's Home Missions 127 94 

Local Home Missions 1197 75 

Colored Evangelization 94 68 

Ministerial Relief 165 31 

Education 566 82 

Publication and S. S. Mission 75 54 

Bible Cause 53 05 

Presbyterial 45 00 

Pastor's Salary 2400 00 

Congregational 2378 40 

Miscellaneous 505 70 



$9573 47 

A. M. Fraser, D. D., Pastor. 

Joseph A. Waddell, 

Clerk of Session. 

SESSIONAL REPORT OF WOMAN'S SOCIETIES 
Society of Woman's Work— 68 Members. 



Contributed for Local Causes. $282 00 

" Home Missions 35 00 

" Other Causes. 10 00 

$327 00 

Ladies' Aid Society— 38 Members. 
Contributed for Miscellaneous Causes $ 93 00 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Woman's Home Missionary Society— 106 Members. 
Contributed for Home Missions $197 00 

Woman's Foreign Missionary Society— 27 Members. 
Contributed for Foreign Missions $149 00 

SESSIONAL REPORT OF YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 

Young Ladies' Missionary Society— 34 Members. 

Contributed for Current Expenses $ 14 89 

" " Foreign Missions. 165 00 

" Home Missions 25 00 

" Other Causes 61 74 

$266 63 

Junior Aid Society— 25 Members. 
Contributed for Miscellaneous Causes $ 50 00 

Children's Missionary Society— 20 Members. 
Contributed .for Foreign Missions $ 20 00 

Covenanters— 15 Members. 

Contributed for Current Expenses $ 4 00 

" " Foreign Missions 70 00 

" Home Missions 35 00 

$109 00 

Young Woman's Christian Ass'n, M. B. S.— 116 Members. 

Contributed for Foreign Missions $ 5 50 

" Other Causes 65 00 

$70 50 

Sunday School. 

Contributed through Treasurer $304 98 

Other Contributions 21 60 

$326 58 

M. B. Seminary Sunday School— 205 Members. 
Contributed for Foreign Missions $250 00 

CHURCH OFFICERS 

The Ruling Elders in 1897, named in the order of their election, 
were Joseph A. Waddell, Davis A. Kayser, George S. Walker, Charles 
Grattan, Henry D. Peck, N. Wayt, James N. McFarland, Henry A. 
Walker and Samuel F. Pilson. 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The Deacons were James H. Blackley, William A. Burke, Arista 
Hoge, C. B. Somerville, James A. Templeton, S. H. Henkel, William 
H. Landes, Charles K. Hoge, John M. Spotts and James A. Fulton. 

Present Organization 

Pastor :— Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., installed May 21, 1893. 

Elders :— 1858, Joseph A. Waddell ; 1875, Dr. George S. Walker ; 
1880, H. D. Peck ; 1885, J. N. McFarland ; 1894, S. F. Pilson ; 1894, 
H. A. Walker ; 1894, H. H. Bolen ; 1903, W. H. Landes ; 1903, Dr. 
J. B. Rawlings ; 1903, C. F. Neel. 

Deacons :— 1864, J. H. Blackley ; 1880, Arista Hoge ; 1888, J. A. 
Templeton ; 1888, Dr. S. H. Henkel ; 1896, J. M. Spotts ; 1896, C. K. 
Hoge ; 1896, J. A. Fulton ; 1903, R. E. Timberlake ; 1903, H. J. Taylor, 
1903, McH. Holliday ; 1903, C. S. Hunter ; 1903, W. W. King. 

Sunday School :— C. R. Caldwell, Superintendent ; C. S. Hunter, 
Secretary ; H. A. Walker, Librarian and Treasurer. 



[76] 



CHAPTER X 

THE BEGINNING OF A REVOLUTION IN THE MODE OF RAISING 
CHURCH REVENUES. 

AT a meeting of the officers of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Staunton, held June 1, 1892, to consider 
the condition of its finances, which is somewhat dis- 
couraging, owing to the large arrearages in pew rents ; 
pending a proposition to enforce the pew rent system to its 
logical results, or else to abandon it altogether, and substi- 
tute some other method of revenue, Elder Jos. A. Waddell 
read a paper which so forcibly set forth the objections to the 
pew rent system, that some of those who sympathize with 
his views, thought it best to have the same printed and dis- 
tributed to the congregation for their consideration. 

The following is a copy of the paper : 

HOW SHOULD CHURCH REVENUES BE RAISED ? 

A little more than a hundred years ago, the church was consti- 
tuted by law in Virginia. The people were assessed by public officers, 
and the money due from them "for the support of religion," was col- 
lected by tax-gatherers, like any other public dues. The money thus 
raised was applied for the support of "the church," and Dissenters, 
consisting then mainly of Presbyterians and Baptists, had to con- 
tribute as well as others, and in addition to provide for the mainte- 
nance of their own institutions, as best they could. Amongst the re- 
sults of the Revolution of 1776, the religious establishment was 
abolished. 

But soon afterward, the scheme of a "general assessment" for 
the support of religion was proposed in the State Legislature. It was 
earnestly advocated by Patrick Henry and other distinguished public 
men, who appreciated the importance of religion and desired to pro- 
mote its influence amongst the people. According to this scheme all 
tax-payers were to contribute, willingly or unwillingly, to a general 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



fund, to be apportioned to the various denominations, the liberty 
granted to the tax-payer being that of indicating the church or 
society to receive his quota. 

The Presbyterian clergy and people warmly opposed the scheme, 
as an infringement upon liberty and injurious to religion. Memorial 
after memorial in opposition to it, was adopted by Hanover Presbytery, 
then the only Presbytery in the State, and the Rev. John B. Smith, of 
Hampden-Sidney, was sent to Richmond to remonstrate in person 
before the Legislature. Finally, a general convention of Presbyterians 
was held at Bethel Church, in Augusta County, which adopted an 
earnest protest against the measure. Soon afterward, the bill 
securing complete religious liberty was passed by the Legislature, and 
our people congratulated themselves on the establishment of just and 
sound principles. 

The policy of our church was therefore long ago established, that 
the institutions of religion should be supported by the voluntary, free 
will offerings of the worshipers. Whatever plan for raising money in- 
fringes in any degree upon this fundamental principle, should be care- 
fully avoided. In my opinion, the common practice of renting pews 
is directly in conflict with it. 

After the completion of our present church building, it was de- 
termined to raise the necessary revenues by renting pews. Accord- 
ingly prices were affixed to the various pews, from $15 to $40 each, 
per annum, in view of the supposed eligibility of the different sittings. 
A number of pews under the gallery and elsewhere, in out-of-the-way 
and undesirable locations, were set apart as "free," for the use of 
casual attendants or members of the congregation too poor to pay for 
more desirable places. It was understood that a family or person tak- 
ing a pew and afterward becoming unable to pay for it, should take a 
cheaper pew, or, if necessary, retire to one of the free pews. Thus 
the sittings in the church were disposed of like stalls in a market, or 
boxes in a theatre, and it was contemplated to "run the church" on 
"strictly business principles." 

How has this system worked ? I hazard nothing in saying that 
as a financial scheme it has proved an utter failure, while in other 
respects it has caused much discomfort to many of our people and no 
little injury to the best interests of the congregation. In New York 
and other large cities the system may be practicable so far as raising 
money is concerned. A popular preacher, or attractive music, will 
draw a crowd of wealthy worshipers ; it is fashionable to go to church 
and have some sort of religion ; and many people will attend on Sun- 
day to display their finery and keep in good society. But the poor and 
people in moderate circumstances are practically excluded. In a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



town and community such as ours, necessary church revenues cannot 
be raised by such means — certainly not without constant irritations 
and injury to the cause intended to be promoted. 

The system is based, it seems to me, on wholly erroneous prin- 
ciples. It discourages the scriptural doctrine that each individual 
ought to contribute in proportion to his ability. A comparatively rich 
man occupies a $20, $30, or $40 pew, and because he pays the sum fix- 
ed by the officers of the church as his quota, he is apt to conclude that 
he has fully discharged his duty in the premises. Next to him in 
church may be a poor family, struggling for daily bread and decent ap- 
parel, who must pay the same sum as the richer brother, or run the risk 
of being ejected from their place. This threat is involved in the sys- 
tem, and is held over the head of every pew-holder. The Board of 
Deacons have not generally enforced the system. That they have not 
is proved by the fact that probably three-fourths of the present pew- 
holders are not now paying the full prices of their pews as originally 
assessed. Yet with every disposition to deal kindly, the officers, in 
accordance with their duty as long as the system remains in force, 
have several times deprived families of their places and practically ex- 
cluded them from the building. It is not their fault, but the blame is 
to be attributed to the plan adopted, and which they are required to 
enforce. But carry out the system, as it ought to be carried out as long 
as it is continued, and what will it result in? Three-fourths of the wor- 
shipers must give up their pews and take refuge in the free pews. 
Who are to occupy the vacated seats ? As far as now appears they 
must remain vacant, while the recent occupants, unable to find accom- 
modation in the seats appropriated to them, must stay outside al- 
together. 

Further objections to the plan are, that it fosters the idea of an 
aristocracy of wealth in the house of God— that the rich are to be better 
accommodated than the poor, or to the exclusion of the poor ; that 
it causes much discomfort to those who from a reverse of fortune, or 
otherwise, cannot pay the stipulated sum ; that it tends to exclude 
people from the church ; and generally that it is unscriptual and in- 
jurious to the cause for which the building was erected. 

The Apostle James says we must not have the faith of our Lord 
Jesus Christ "with respect of persons," nor say to the rich man, "Sit 
thou here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand thou there, or 
sit here under my footstool. ' ' 

Let us then try some other plan. Let us take down the labels 
which appear on many pews— on one "For Rent" on another "Free." 
The latter proclaims : ' 'Sit here if you choose, but do not forget that 
you are a pauper. ' ' Take down those labels, and declare that every 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



seat not already appropriated is free to who ever will take it. Make no 
distinction between the rich and poor. Let the poorest member in the 
congregation have the best seat in the house, if there be such a seat. 
Cause all who come to feel at home. It is their Father's house, and 
their home. Thus the membership will be increased, and there will 
be no lack of necessary funds for defraying the expenses of the con- 
gregation. 

It will be observed that the objection is not to a proper pew system, 
but to the renting of pews. On many accounts it is desirable that 
every family, and if possible, every individual, shall have a fixed 
and recognized place in the house. It is not seemly or agreeable for 
the regular worshipers to enter pell-mell and scramble for seats— a 
father here, a mother there, and the children scattered about. There- 
fore, let one or more pews be assigned to each family, and bear their 
name. At the same time the body of the congregation, through its 
officers, must retain a proper control of the sittings. Every individual 
must understand that he is indebted to the congregation for his ap- 
pointed place, and that he is not at liberty to monopolize more space 
than is necessary for his comfortable accommodation. Of course it is 
impossible to furnish a whole pew to each person ; and where several 
persons are associated, by their own agreement or by the church 
officers, there must be amongst them a spirit of mutual courtesy and 
regard. The one who enters first should not insist upon sitting at the 
entrance, and require others entitled to the same accommodation to 
work their way in over knees and feet as' best they can. This selfish, 
unaccommodating spirit is fostered by the system of renting pews. 
The feeling is : "This is my pew, I pay for it. You have no right 
here. ' ' The whole church, however, and every seat in it, belongs to 
the congregation, and all worshipers are entitled to accommodation 
without distinction. 

According to the plan proposed, no family will be disturbed in the 
present arrangement, but each will retain its place as far as agree- 
able and suitable. When strangers apply for accommondation, they 
will not be told, as now, ' 'Here is a pew you may have for $40, there 
is one for $30," etc., but, "Here are the vacant pews, or seats, take 
whichever you prefer." 

Thus having relieved the church from the odium of affording its 
accommodations to those only who can pay for them — throwing the 
doors wide open, inviting all to come and welcome, whether they pay 
much, or little, or nothing at all — the poorest having all the rights 
which money can obtain — how shall the amount necessary to defray 
expenses be raised? Money is indispensable. There is no denying 
that, and there is no incongruity in keeping the fact before the people. 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



In every civilized community money is necessary for subsistence, 
and without it the religion of Jesus Christ cannot be maintained and 
propagated. In the hands of one who loves God and his fellowmen, 
it is a blessed thing. It may be sanctified and become a holy thing. 
Let us not fall into the mistake of contemning money as something 
unclean and. not to be mentioned in connection with religion. It is 
not money itself, but the undue, sordid love of pelf, which the Bible 
denounces. It not only represents dwellings and food and clothing, 
but also churches, Bibles, and to some extent even the proclamation 
of the gospel. How shall preachers abide in their calling, or go on 
their errand, without the means of subsistence? And how shall 
meeting-houses be built, and warmed, and lighted at night, unless 
funds are provided for the purpose ? 

Money is indispensable. How shall it be obtained ? Not by a 
system of governmental taxation— our ancestors delivered us from 
that burden a hundred years ago. Nor by an arbitrary and imprac- 
ticable assessment by church officers, in consideration of a certain 
allotted space in the house of worship. But rather by each individual 
assessing himself. It is not for me to say what my neighbor shall 
contribute. I am bound to give, or pay, in the fear of God and ac- 
cording to my ability. The Bible lays down the rule— " Each one ac- 
cording to his ability." 

It is objected to this plan that some persons who are able, will 
contribute nothing, and that the fear of losing their pews must be 
kept before them in order to obtain their contributions. I imagine 
there are very few people of this kind. No one of the least self-re- 
spect, who is able to maintain his family, would allow his neighbors to 
furnish subsistence to his wife and children or even to himself ; and 
it is almost incredible that any one able to help would consent to receive 
all the accommodations afforded by the church without contributing 
to the fund. But if their be such a man, the remedy is not by a 
threat to turn him out of his pew. That man specially needs the gos- 
pel. Keep him in his place, therefore, hoping that by the grace of 
God he may yet be brought to appreciate his duty and privilege 
in this respect. In the meanwhile, others ought to make up the 
deficiency with the same spirit which induces them to send the gospel 
to idolaters and other benighted people. 

I have heard of a society of simple-minded Christians in one of the 
West India Islands, who, it seems to me, hit upon the true plan for 
raising the expenses of true religious services. They adopted three 
rules, as follows : 1. We will give cheerfully; 2. We will give 
promptly; 3. We will give as the Lord has blessed us. It is related 
that on one occasion, when the officers of the church had met to 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



receive the offerings of the people, a comparatively rich member 
of the flock put down a very small sum as his contribution. The 
chairman said : "No, brother we can't take that." "Why not?" 
asked the other. "Because," was the reply, "you have not com- 
plied with the 3d rule." The member took up his money and trudged 
oft 7 . Presently he returned and putting down a larger sum said huffish- 
ly : " Take that." "No," said the other, "we cannot take it. You 
have not complied with the 1st rule." The contributor retired again 
with his money, but finally returned, and with a changed manner 
begged that as a favor to him it might be received. "Yes with 
pleasure," said the chairman, \" now you have complied with all the 
rules." This story illustrates the true principle of Christian benefi- 
cence, and the manner in which the people may be educated with ref- 
erence to it. The Lord does not need the gifts of any of His 
creatures. He, however, condescends to accept the free-will offerings 
of His people. He does not want enforced presents, and the church 
should not receive them. But the church should enlighten the people 
and exhort and rebuke in respect to the duty and privilege. 

It may be taken for granted that no plan can be devised which 
will not involve some trouble to the officers of the church. One or 
more persons must be authorized to collect, or receive, the contribu- 
tions, and disburse them ; and owing to the infirmity of human nature, 
it cannot be expected that every individual will always pay in his 
quota promptly at the appointed time. Some degree of solicitation, 
or reminder, must therefore be practiced. 

Upon the whole, the plan which seems to me most in accordance 
with scripture and the theory of our institutions ; best calculated to 
prevent irritations and discomfort in the congregation ; and most 
likely to result in raising the necessary amount of money, is the fol- 
lowing : Let the officers of the church at the beginning of every year 
invite each adult member of the congregation to say what sum he or 
she will contribute, in monthly or quarterly instalments, for that 
year. If the aggregate subscribed shall be sufficient for the purpose 
the desired object will be accomplished. A subscription list for one 
year may be relied upon as likely to be solvent and promptly paid in. 
If the aggregate subscriptions shall prove insufficient, the fact should 
be reported to the congregation, and an opportunity afforded to sub- 
scribers to increase their respective donations. Frequent reports of 
the financial condition of the church should be made, not by announce- 
ments from the pulpit, but by means of printed statements placed in 
the pews. Every individual attending the church should be kept in- 
formed in regard to these affairs. All are equally interested, and 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



every proper means should be used to excite the interest and call 
forth the liberality of the members. 

There will, of course, be some members of the congregation un- 
able to contribute ; or at least to promise any sum they may think 
worth subscribing. Christ said : "The poor ye have always with 
you," and as long as such are in the community, God grant that a 
reasonable proportion of them may be in our church, and cherished 
and accommodated as well as the richest. In fixing the amounts of 
their contributions, the comparatively wealthy must have reference 
to the fact that some of the brethren are able to do very little. We 
will not say that any are able to do nothing. And the smallest gifts 
may be more in the estimation of God than the largest. The widow 
who cast two mites into the treasury of the temple, Christ himself 
said, "cast in more than they all." 

In our common conversation we speak of giving to the church, or 
to religious objects, and many people pay every claim upon them in 
preference to church dues. The latter are, however, debts of the 
first dignity, higher than "debts of honor," and are entitled to be 
first discharged. 

A word in conclusion in regard to the collection of church reve- 
nues. Church officers serve without pay, and certainly not for their 
own enjoyment. They have become our servants for Christ's 
sake. When they present to us the collection baskets during public 
worship, or elsewhere call upon us for money, it is to save us trouble, 
or to remind us of our duty. They deserve respect and sympathy, as 
friends and faithful servants, not the rebuffs which debtors some- 
times give to exacting and harsh creditors. 

"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him 
give ; not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. " 

"If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that 
a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. " 

If the present system of pew-renting is a proper one, it ought to 
be enforced. It is due to good faith and fair dealing that there shall 
be no discriminations — one delinquent allowed to remain, and another, 
directly or indirectly, ordered to leave. 

Whenever a pew-holder fails to pay the full price, turn him out. 
Punish the wife and children for the fault, or it may be the misfor- 
tune, of the head of the family. Owners of warehouses and other 
buildings for rent, act so. The object of all renting is to raise money. 
True this is not the professed primary object of the church, but 
when the church turns from its proper purpose and undertakes to 
play the landlord, it must adhere to sound business principles. There- 
fore, let the system be faithfully carried out or abolished. 

Staunton, Va., June 1, 1892. 

[83] 



CHAPTER XI 



TWO SERMONS BY REV. A. M. FRASER, D. D., PASTOR OF THE 
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF STAUNTON, VA. 
SUBJECT : THE WORSHIP OF GOD WITH OUR 
SUBSTANCE; DELIVERED IN 
FEBRUARY, 1904. 

FIRST SERMON 

Text:— Prov. 111:9, "Honor the Lord With Thy 
Substance." 

THE subject presented to us by this text is that of 
worshiping or ' 'honoring' ' the Lord with our "sub- 
stance" or property. In advance of everything else 
I have to say on the subject, I wish to make this state- 
ment : I shall not lay down a single main proposition but 
such as I feel sure of securing your unqualified concurrence 
in, and if you act in accordance with the convictions thus 
reached, such a thing as a financial problem will disappear 
from our church operations, and we will be doing more in 
proportion to our means than any church of which I have 
any knowledge. 

Now if I have succeeded, during my residence in your 
midst, in winning, to any extent, your confidence in my 
judgment, this statement at the outset of such a discussion 
ought to secure the closest and most serious attention to all 
I have to say. Let me repeat and emphasize the state- 
ment : I shall not lay down a single leading proposition 
but such as I feel confident of securing your unqualified 
assent to. I may be mistaken, but I doubt if a lawyer 
ever stood before a jury more confident of his case than I 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



am of carrying my case in the minds of this jury of six 
hundred persons. And that is a great deal to say when 
money is the subject to be discussed. And, moreover, if all 
will act in accordance with the views thus formed, financial 
difficulties will disappear from our church and we will be 
doing more in proportion to our ability than any church of 
my acquaintance. With this preface I proceed to an- 
nounce my first proposition. 

I. In order that the Church may do the work which 
the Lord has given it to do, it must have money. 

It is unscriptural and impossible for the church to do 
the work the Master has given it to do, without the use of 
money. It might seem unnecessary to insist upon a pro- 
position so nearly self-evident as this one is, but there are 
some who dispute it, and it is possible that the leaven 
of this error is working to a greater extent than we sus- 
pect. They say that the gospel is free and then deceive 
themselves with the sophistry that because the gospel is 
free, no money should be employed in its operations. Sal- 
vation is offered to all who will accept it, ' 'without money 
and without price," and if any man thinks when he pays 
money into the Lord's treasury that he is paying for his 
redemption, he has never begun to know the value of that 
redemption, and greatly over-rates the value of money. 
When Simon, the sorcerer, offered to give the apostles 
money for the gift of the Holy Ghost, Peter rebuked him 
indignantly saying, 'Thy money perish with thee, because 
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased 
with money." Possibly it was to this occasion that 
Peter's mind reverted when he afterwards wrote in his 
first epistle, "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible 
things as silver and gold." But because God has chosen 
to make eternal life a free gift, he has not, therefore, 
denied us the privilege of worshiping him with our sub- 
stance and using our money to serve him. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



That money is needed to do this work, the following 
considerations will show : 

1. It is right, and God has ordained that there shall 
be a ministerial office in the church. There should be at 
least one man for each Christian community who shall 
devote his whole time to the study and ministry of the 
word and to prayer. God has commanded him to give 
himself 'wholly" to these things. Of course it is neces- 
sary for that man to get a living. But whence shall that 
living come ? If he stops to make his own living, he will 
not be giving himself "wholly" to these things. In pro- 
portion as his spiritual ministrations are interrupted by 
worldly cares and avocations will his knowledge of the 
word be imperfect and his ministry enfeebled. My stand- 
ard of ministerial scholarship and efficiency are very far 
above the plain on which I labor, but if I were forced to 
work for a living from Monday morning till Saturday night 
and then preach on Sunday such things as I had gathered 
through the week, I would sink to a level very far below the 
one I now occupy. If, then, a minister may not stop to 
earn his own living, whence can that living come except it 
be from the offerings of God's people which they make for 
the maintenance of the worship of God ? God has made 
no other provision. 

2. Not only has God not made any other provision than 
that, he has in fact made exactly that provision. [Perhaps 
I should pause here for an explanation. I hope that no 
one imagines for a moment that these remarks have any 
reference that is personal to myself. No congregation 
could discharge its obligations to its pastor more com- 
pletely and punctually than you have met all your finan- 
cial obligations to me. If it were otherwise I would not 
feel at liberty to discuss the subject as freely as I do. As 
I explained in a former sermon, I am preaching upon this 
class of subjects in response to a request to do so, and be- 
cause we are now contemplating a change in our method 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of raising the revenues of the church. I wish, therefore, 
to discuss the subject in a manner that shall be free from 
all personal references and upon the high ground of Bible 
teaching and Christian duty and privilege. With this ex- 
planation I will proceed with the proof that God has 
ordained that the ministry shall be supported out of the 
offerings of his worshipers] . 

At I Timothy v:17 we find these words : "Let the 
elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, 
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.' ' 
What is this ' 'honor' ' that is to be accorded all elders and 
a double portion of which is due to those "elders who rule 
well" or "who labor in the word and doctrine ?" A close 
study of the word in its historical uses in Israel and in its 
connection with the passage here, will lead you to the con- 
clusion that by "honor" Paul meant a material support of 
some kind. This is made clear by the following verse. 
When we discuss religious subjects we are in the habit of 
quoting from the Bible to support our positions, and so 
Paul did in this case. Passing to the next verse (the 
18th) we find him quoting from Deuteronomy : "Thou 
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn." 

The old way of threshing wheat (for that is what is 
meant by "corn") was to drive oxen to and fro across it 
and let them tread the grain out of the straw. When they 
became tired and hungry, they would reach down and get 
a mouthful of straw, sometimes getting grain along with 
the straw. A stingy man would be inclined to stop this 
little waste by muzzling the oxen or tying baskets over 
their mouths. The law of Moses forbade their treating 
the oxen so. It was upon the principle of justice that the 
oxen were earning all they got. They were yielding in- 
comparably greater quantities of grain than they were 
getting. Now why does Paul quote that particular scrip- 
ture in this connection ? What bearing has it on the sub- 
ject in hand, the giving of "honor" to elders ? The logic 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of the quotation is that ' 'elders who rule well, especially 
they who labor in the word and doctrine," are treading 
out the bread of life for the people, and whilst they are so 
engaged they are not to be debarred from getting a living 
by that work. He follows up this quotation with another, 
"The laborer is worthy of his hire." The minister is a 
laborer, and if you get any good at all out of his labors, it 
is worth far more to you than the support you give him. 
Paul says elsewhere on the same subject, "If we have 
sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we 
reap your carnal things?" In further proof of the same 
position we might turn to the ninth chapter of First Corin- 
thians, where a great deal of the chapter is taken up with 
the direct discussion of this subject and it is all so forcible 
that it is hard to select one verse or a few verses for 
illustration. There we find the apostle using the same 
quotation he did in 1 Timothy, v : 18 : "Thou shalt not 
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," and again 
applies it to the subject of supporting the ministry. And 
he adds the question, "Doth God take care for Oxen ? or 
saith he it altogether for our sakes ? For our sakes, no 
doubt, this is written. " That is, God's object in putting 
that precept into the law of Moses and keeping it there 
through all these centuries was to impress upon the people 
this simple principle of justice in order that it might be 
applied to the support of the Christian ministry in these 
latter times. "That he that ploweth should plow in hope, 
and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his 
hope." In this same ninth chapter also occurs this lan- 
guage : "Do ye not know that they which minister about 
holy things live of the things of the temple ? And they 
which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar ? 
Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach 
the Gospel should live of the Gospel." Do not such pas- 
sages satisfy us that the church must nave money to keep 
itself supplied with the Gospel ? 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



3. But the church needs money not only to supply 
itself with the ministration of the Gospel, but also to send 
that Gospel to those who do not have it. The command 
of Christ is to "preach the Gospel to every creature.' ' 
And Paul asks in reference to the heathen, ' 'How shall 
they call on Him in whom they have not believed, and 
how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not 
heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher, and 
how shall they preach except they be sent ? ' ' And it is in 
the line of these questions to add, ' 'How shall they be 
sent without money ? ' ' Whether they go by railway and 
steamship or afoot, money is necessary to support them. 
But it is useless to dwell longer on this proposition. 
Enough has been said to show that both Scripture and 
sound reasoning place it beyond every vestige of doubt. 

II. The next proposition is this : 

In order that the church may do the work which the 
Lord has given it to do, it must have A great deal of 

MONEY. 

If you were to travel from this point in a westerly 
direction for a hundred miles you would doubtless encoun- 
ter communities that are thickly settled with an ignor- 
ant, thriftless, godless population that needs the Gospel. 
There will, of course, be some ready to say that it is useless 
to preach the Gospel to such people, but they say so in 
ignorance of what the Gospel is now doing in many such 
communities and forgetful of the fact that their own an- 
cestors were rescued from a far worse condition by this 
same Gospel. I once heard a lawyer say to a jury, "If I 
thought my client was guilty of the crime of which he is 
accused, I would not reach out my hand to save him from 
torment/ ' Everybody knew that the client was guiltv 
and that the lawyer knew he was and had consented to 
defend him only on condition of a fee of five hundred dol- 
lars. He was not only reaching out his hand to save him, 
but putting forth all his might. No, there never lived a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



man so infamously wicked and cruel, but what we would 
do all in our power to save him if we believed he was going 
to torment. Now when a minister goes to such a com- 
munity as I have mentioned and preaches the Gospel there, 
that Gospel proves just as sweet and saving there as it 
does among us. They accept it, and they are gathered 
into a church. They must have a house to worship in and 
a preacher to instruct them. They cannot supply these 
for themselves. It takes time for the Gospel to work such 
a change in their lives that they can become industrious, 
economical, yet liberal and self-supporting. Meanwhile, 
according to the Bible rule that we ought to bear one 
another's burdens and the strong should help the weak, it 
is our duty to assist them. Now there are many such 
churches throughout the country and they create a de- 
mand for a great deal of money. Again, more than one- 
fifth of all the churches on our roll are marked ' 'vacant' 9 
in the minutes of the assembly. A great many of those not 
marked ' 'vacant" have preaching but rarely. Many have 
preaching only every other Sabbath ; many have it but 
one Sabbath out of three or four, and some of them but 
once in two months. Many ministers whose whole time is 
occupied with one church or a group of churches are insuffi- 
ciently supported. They are driven to penurious economy 
wearing coarse and often threadbare clothes themselves 
subjecting their families to privations, in order to eke out 
a scanty living on from four to seven hundred dollars a 
year— less money than is often paid by large cities for 
fourth-rate officials to idle away their time. This is not an 
exaggeration. A few years ago I met a gentleman who 
had often visited in a congregation that was served by a 
minister whom I had known as a student at the Theologi- 
cal Seminary. I asked how this former acquaintance was 
succeeding in the ministry and had this reply : ' 'He is 
doing very poorly. Sometimes he preaches very good 
sermons and they show what he can do. But generally he 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



preaches very poor sermons, though the people bear with 
the poor ones very patiently, for they understand that he has 
been at the plow all the week when he preaches to them. ,, 
I grant that that is an exceptional case, but it is not a rare 
exception, as I could show by other illustrations. But what 
must the rule be that admits of such exceptions ! Money 
is needed to piece out the living of such men so as to 
allow them to give themselves fully and efficiently to the 
ministry. 

Again, take the case of ministers disabled by age or 
disease, and of helpless families of deceased ministers. So 
many have been receiving such small salaries that they are 
unable to save anything against an evil day. When sick- 
ness, old age or death overtakes them they are found in 
absolute destitution. You may place them upon the roll 
of paupers if you wish, but still the duty of making some 
provision for them as for other paupers is an imperative 
one. The Masons take care of their poor and so do other 
fraternities. How much more should the church do so 
when these have"sacrificed themselves in her service ? But 
to meet this obligation, there must be more money. 

Again, we have candidates for the ministry to be aided 
in getting an education. A very large proportion of our 
candidates for the ministry come from poorer families. They 
have nothing to offer to the Lord except themselves. We 
must either cut off the supply of ministers to that extent 
or else provide the means for educating them. 

Again, consider the work of home missions proper, or 
that of carrying the Gospel to parts of this country that are 
destitute of it. Those of you who have read Dr. Strong's 
book will recall the outline of his argument setting forth 
the problem of home missions as it lies before the church 
to-day. Think of the immense influence to be wielded in 
the future by the Trans-Mississippi region of the United 
States ! Think of the portentous forces of godless immi- 
gration, Romanism, Mormonism, socialism, intemperance, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



sudden wealth and the congregating of large bodies of 
wild, lawless men into the cities and mining camps, all of 
which are fast combining in the formation of an ominous 
national character there ! How important it is that the 
power of the Gospel shall be felt there while the mass is 
forming, to neutralize the evil and to create a religious 
life among the people ! To do this immense work requires 
a geat deal of money. 

Once more, remember that there are yet a thousand 
million heathen in the world, and our Saviour has laid upon 
this generation the obligation to do all it can to make known 
the Gospel to every one of them. He said : 4 'Go ye into 
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. ' 7 
He did not grant the church an unlimited time in which to 
obey that command. He did not say, "I will give you ten 
thousand years,' ' nor "I will give you six thousand years.' ' 
He did not allow two thousand years. He did not say 
to us, "Go on and take your ease, build fine homes, 
buy up great farms, accumulate bank stock, surround 
yourselves with every luxury and occasionally when you 
get into a mellow mood give a little something to save 
some of your perishing fellowmen. But take your own 
time." He did not speak in that way. He did sanction 
some delay. He said, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem 
until ye be endued with power from on high." But as 
soon as that "power from on high" came down upon 
them on the day of Pentecost, the command became at 
once a present, pressing, imperative, terrific, explosive, 
"Go !" The Duke of Wellington is said to have called 
this command the "Church's marching orders," but this 
army has waited two thousand years to obey the General's 
orders to march ! " 

Dr. Pierson has drawn a telling contrast between the 
conduct of the church in this matter and the action of 
Mordecai when the Jews were threatened. Haman secured 
a decree for the extermination of the Jews. That decree 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



could not be revoked, but Mordecai secured a counter-decree 
permitting the Jews to defend themselves when assailed. 
It was necessary to make known this decree to all the Jews 
living in all the kingdom. There were one hundred and 
twenty-seven provinces, extending from Hindostan on the 
east to Ethiopia on the west, and each province had its 
own language or dialect. Mordecai undertook the work of 
placing this decree in the possession of every Jew in 
all these provinces, and in his own dialect. He had no 
facilities for the work, such as printing presses, mail, 
telegraph, railroad or steamship, and yet in less than nine 
months he had finished the work. 

He also tells a story to illustrate the same point : A 
minister once asked an English soldier if Queen Victoria 
were to issue a decree and command the British army to 
place it in the hands of every creature, how long it would 
take to accomplish it. His reply was : "I think we could 
manage it in about eighteen months. ' ' But the church, 
with equal resources and with infinitely more tremendous 
motives, has dragged along for nearly 2,000 years and has 
scarcely made a beginning of doing the work yet. Now 
that Great Commission rests upon the conscience of the 
present generation with all the weight it would have had 
if no preceding generation had been negligent of its duty. 
It is just as if all intervening generations were obliterated 
and the church of to-day were standing in the immediate 
presence of its Lord, and receiving the whole commission, 
were charged with its prompt accomplishment. 

Imagine yourself standing on the brink of a precipice 
and as you look landward you see a cloud of dust in the 
distance. As you closely watch it, you see the moving 
forms of human beings in the midst. As it approaches 
nearer, you discern that is it a moving column of humanity, 
marching four abreast and directly towards you. When it 
gets very near, you stand aside to see what it will do, ex- 
pecting it to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



But it does not do either. It marches on and off and is 
dashed to pieces on the rocks below. File after file follow 
to the same dreadful death. You shriek yourself hoarse 
and make the wildest gestures to warn them of their dan- 
ger, but it is all in vain — they are blind and deaf. You 
look back to see how long that column of death is, and you 
cannot see the end. It is interminable. Now if you know 
something that could save them and do not resort to it, 
would you not be something less than human ? 

This is not a fancy scene I have tried to draw, but a 
terribly earnest reality. That moving column is the 
heathen world, blind and deaf, marching with that same 
steady step toward the brink of ruin, and every step 
launches its file of four into that abyss. On and on it 
comes, a ceaseless stream, till God through his church shall 
arrest it: 

Now take a birdseye view of the work. There are 
weak churches to help, ministers to be supported, 
invalid ministers to care for, poor boys to educate 
for the ministry, a vast unoccupied territory in this 
country to be evangelized, and a thousand million 
heathen to whom the Lord has commanded us to take the 
Gospel. Do you not then assent to the second proposition 
that the church needs a great deal of money to do its 
work? 

III. My next proposition is : 

The Church of to-day has money enough to do the work, 
if it were only consecrated to that end. 

A few simple calculations will make this evident. 
What is the total amount of money paid out by the people 
of the United States in a year as the result of revenue- 
legislation ? It is impossible to tell exactly, but we can 
reach a safe working estimate. The Secretary of the 
Treasury of the United States has recently given out his 
estimate of the expenses of the government for the cur- 
rent year (1894) and it is about four hundred and fifty 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



millions of dollars. The annual revenues amount to possi- 
bly a little less than that, though not much. To make a 
safe estimate, let us say that the revenues amount to 
$400,000,000. Add to this, $100,000,000 as a safe estimate 
of the revenues of all the states. But this is not all. I 
once heard an eminent statesman, who had occupied the 
high position of chairman of the committee of ways and 
means of the National House of Representatives, make 
this statement in a public speech : ' 'The increase in the 
price of manufactured goods in this country, resulting 
from tariff laws, which does not go into the National 
Treasury but to manufacturers, amounts to a thousand 
millions of dollars a year." You understand he does not 
say that that is the cost of manufactured goods, but these 
goods cost that much more than they would if legislation 
were different. I take it for granted that a man occu- 
pying his high position, and at that time aspiring to a 
higher, would not be reckless in the statement of facts of 
which he had every opportunity to judge, especially in a 
public speech that would be reported in all the large papers 
in the country. But suppose that it be granted that he 
was not a statesman, but merely a politician, making 
these statements for party purposes. Suppose we say that 
he is very wide of the mark and so, in order to be safe, 
divide his figures by two. That would still leave $500,- 
000,000 going in that direction. Now, if we add that to 
. the other $500,000,000 we found actually paid into National 
and State treasuries, the grand total paid out annually by 
the people of this country as the result of revenue laws 
will certainly reach the sum of one thousand million dol- 
lars. [I take it that in these remarks I am not touching 
on the dangerous ground of politics. Political parties 
differ as to conclusions drawn from such estimates rather 
than upon the estimates themselves] . That thousand mil- 
lions of dollars is paid without any very perceptible strain. 
Six years ago we had a national political campaign in which 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the parties joined issue upon the single question of whether 
or not the laws should be changed so as to reduce these 
burdens. But, though the intellectual faculties of the 
people were fully aroused and concentrated upon this 
question, it was impossible to persuade them sufficiently 
of the grievousness of taxation to make them consent to 
any change in the laws. Now, what part of that large 
sum of money do the Christian people pay ? The Chris- 
tians (Protestants) are one-fifth of the whole population ? 
It is true that many of these are women and children who 
do not control much money. On the other hand it is true that 
comparatively very few of the very poor are in the church. 
Letting these two facts offset each other, it will be fair to 
conclude that these Protestant Christians, who are one- 
fifth of the population, own one-fifth of the wealth. That 
is, they pay one-fifth of that thousand million dollars paid 
out as the result of financial legislation! That means that 
the Christian people in this country pay annually $200,- 
000, 000 for the luxury of being governed. And they do it 
easily. When asked practically at the ballot box, ' 'What 
do you think of the burdens of taxation ?" they answer, 
■ 'We do not care anything about £he burdens of taxation. 
We do not feel them." Many of them become angry be- 
cause the question is raised. Christian people pay out 
annually $200,000,000 and never miss it ! 

Let us look at the question from another point of view. 
Dr. Strong calculates that the increase of wealth of the 
Christians of this country is very nearly $500,000,- 
000 a year That is not their entire income, but their sur- 
plus. After they have met all their necessary expenses, 
and paid their taxes, and made their church contributions, 
and done their charities, and made their presents, and 
bought their luxuries and pleasures, and can find no way 
by which they can spend any more, they then have $500,- 
000,000 left over that does nothing but roll itself over 
like a snow-ball and get bigger. 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Examine the question from still another point of 
view. What proportion of our people are consumers of 
ardent spirits ? In view of the fact that but a small pro- 
portion of women and children use them at all, I think it 
would be safe to take the estimate given by one who is 
regarded as an authority, and say that about one-fifth of 
the population are consumers of intoxicants. That means 
that for every Christian in the land there is one consumer 
of drink. Now certainly the Christian people are equally 
as able financially as those who use strong drink, and 
probably they are better off. What then are the people of 
this class able to give for their beverage ? They pay 
$900,000,000 annually. They pay eagerly and greedily 
$900,000,000 a year for that which is taking their bodies 
to the grave and their souls to hell. Could not the church 
with the same number and the same ability pay the same 
sum with the same ease, if it loved its Master as they 
love their enemy ? 

Let me not speak injuriously of the church as a whole. 
There is no such devotion in the world as some of the fol- 
lowers of Christ show to Him and His cause. I know a 
candidate for the ministry now in college who walks the 
whole distance from his home across mountain roads to 
get to college. He takes the little sum given him by his 
Presbytery and friends to pay his board. After college 
hours he makes a little money by small jobs of work 
through the town. In vacation he spends his mornings 
teaching school and his afternoons in a railroad cut shovel- 
ing and hauling dirt. All this he is doing in order that he 
may have the sweet privilege of preaching the Gospel. 

I recall another case of one of the purest and brightest 
young men we had at college while I was there. He was 
a candidate for the ministry and he had to stop one year 
and teach school to get means for completing his educa- 
tion. While teaching school, another opportunity was 
offered to do remunerative work and he accepted it, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



though it kept him up nearly all night. At length the 
great strain of working so constantly with so little sleep, 
affected his brain. In a moment of temporary insanity he 
assailed a man with a horse whip and was shot to death. 
He was a man of such a gentle, loving spirit that he was 
one of the very last men we would have suspected to be 
capable of such violence. 

There are sewing women who are wearing their fin- 
gers out to make a living, and then give a large part of 
what they earn to the worship of God. There are those 
in this town who habitually deny themselves what we re- 
gard as the necessary things of life in order that they may 
give to the worship of God. There are also wealthy per- 
sons who consecrate their substance after the same man- 
ner. There is no passion in the world so strong as the love 
for Christ is in some souls. What a revolution there would 
be if the whole church were aroused to the same degree 
of consecration. 

Now what could be accomplished if the Christian 
people would contribute for religious uses such sums as 
they are manifestly able to do ? I calculate that for every 
one thousand dollars expended in foreign mission work, 
there is one living missionary in the field. I do not mean 
that every missionary gets a salary of one thousand dol- 
lars. Very far from it ! I mean that when all the money 
expended in various ways in mission work is added up and 
the whole divided by the number of missionaries, it 
amounts to a thousand dollars to each missionary. So 
that if the Christians would put as much money into the 
work of the church as is now paid because of revenue 
laws, it would put two hundred thousand missionaries into 
the field. If they would use the $500,000,000 of surplus 
earnings in the work, that would put five hundred thous- 
and missionaries into the field. And if they would give 
as bountifully as men pay for intoxicants, they would 
place nine hundred thousand missionaries in the field 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



—nearly a million men. If these million missionaries 
divide up the heathen world equally among themselves 
there would be one missionary to every one thousand souls. 
This shows what the Christians of the United States alone 
could do, to say nothing" of the rest of the Christian 
world. 

This has been a century of marvellous progress in 
every department of human activity. All the modern work 
of missions has been done during this century. While that 
work has not more than fairly begun, yet it is opening up 
wonderfully. It seems to lack but one thing. It lags for 
want of means. But there are signs of awakening on every 
hand. Some ten years ago our church was giving less than 
fifty thousand dollars to the cause of Foreign Missions and 
the Assembly asked for a hundred thousand. I for one 
felt depressed about it, when I thought how much was 
needed and how little was given, and how hard it was to 
raise that little. But within these ten years we have in - 
creased to an amount nearly three times as great as it was 
then. Of course, the demands have grown as well as the 
supply, but I wish to call attention to the fact that there 
is growth in giving. 

Now if the church should awake to a sense of its full 
ability and responsibility and send out its two or nine 
hundred thousand missionaries, and the other churches of 
Christendom do as well, prosecuting their work with equal 
vigor for the next six years, and so enter upon a great 
campaign to occupy the world for Jesus, it could put the 
gospel into the hands of every living creature before the 
year 1900, and so as we pass from this century into the 
next, we would pass into a new era. This may seem 
extravagant, but so have all great achievements seemed 
before they were realized. Steam is one of the greatest 
agents man has ever mastered, and while it is so simple we 
wonder every child did not discover its use, for ages it 
struggled in vain from every tea pot to declare itself to man. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



If some prophet would predict to us some of the uses to 
which electricity will be put within a few years, he would 
be laughed at, if, indeed, he were not regarded as too silly 
for laughter. Yet this immense agency lies idle all around 
us, struggling in some language we cannot yet read to 
tell us what it can do— services long desired, but long 
esteemed impossible. But there is a mightier power 
than either steam or electricity lying within the reach of 
the church, crying out for recognition and crying in vain. 
For two thousand years the church has been praying, 
' 'Thy kingdom come," and doubtless really wishing it to 
come, yet here is the simple means for bringing it to pass 
whenever it shall be consecrated to that end. It is a lever 
by which the church may be prized from its militant to its 
triumphant state. 

IV. The next proposition is : 

The Church has not properly consecrated its 
money to the work. 

We sometimes hear a remark like this: 4 'All that 
Christian people need is to have a cause properly presented 
to them and they will respond liberally." That means 
that people will contribute a few cents or dollars to any 
proper cause however indifferently it is presented, but that 
if a good appeal is made they will contribute a few more 
cents or dollars. And this may be liberal according to 
prevailing ideas, but prevailing ideas are all too low. The 
conduct of Christians in this matter is frequently like that 
of a man who has suddenly become very rich, who wants 
to live like a rich man, but who does not know how. He 
does not know the comparative value of different objects 
nor their relative importance. He does not know what is 
the proper amount of money to spend on this class of 
luxuries and that. Now, Christians, with all their educa- 
tion and culture in other matters, have never learned the 
true measure of the worship of God with their substance. 
Out of all the wealth owned by Christains in this country, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and confronted with such a problem of work as they are, 
they give only five and a half millions to foreign missions. 
This may seem like a large amount, but "large" and 
' 'small" are relative terms. As compared with the little 
you and I may have, it is a large sum. But when we com- 
pare it with the total wealth of Cristians, when we com- 
pare it with what they uncomplainingly give for the sup- 
port of the government, with what the intemperate man 
pays for his beverage, with the needs of the work, it is 
very, very small. There is a cry from every part of the 
church for more money. I think the managers of our bene- 
ficent enterprises are the saddest looking men in our midst. 
Letters come pouring in upon them all the time, telling of 
personal distress, domestic tragedies and spiritual destitu- 
tion, wringing their hearts till they have acquired a look 
and tone of suffering. 

About twenty years ago there was a singular phenom- 
enon in the city of Charleston, S. C. , perhaps peculiar to 
that city and possibly it may be witnessed there still. 
During an alarm of fire at night it seemed as if the whole 
population rushed into the streets and shouted "Fire ! " 
That same cry coming from so many different directions 
and in so many different keys blended into one continuous, 
prolonged, unearthly wail that, like some great live thing, 
seemed to wind itself around and around in the darkness 
above the city as long as the alarm lasted. If we could 
hear all the cries of distress that come from all over the 
church, would they not combine into such a piteous wail 
like the wailing of the lost ! Could this be so while the 
church has all the wealth we have seen that it possesses, 
if that money was in any sense really consecrated to the 
Master's work ? 

I hope to be able to conclude the discussion when we 
meet again next Sabbath. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



SECOND SERMON 

Text -.—"Honor the Lord with Thy Substance." 
Prov. 111:9. 

ON last Sabbath I began to preach on "The Worship 
of God with Our Substance,' ' treating the subject 
in a series of propositions. I had proceeded as far as 
the fourth proposition. This morning I bespeak your 
interest while I resume the series. 

V. My next proposition or set of propositions have refer- 
ence to a plan for bringing the church up to a PROPER 
standard of consecration. What are some of the 
characteristics to be sought after in devising such a plan ? 

1. It should be a plan that will result in a sufficent 
supply of money to do the work. 

I need not dwell on that. If we have the work to do 
and have the money to do it, we should certainly adopt 
some plan for applying the money to the work. 

2. It should be a plan that will distribute the burdens 
of church support equitably among the members. 

A plan is wanted that will secure from each member a 
sum that in proportion to his income is the equivalent of 
what every other member is contributing in proportion to 
his income. How often it happens that this state of things 
exists in a congregation : There is a wealthy man in the 
church who contributes largely to all causes, and he is a 
complainer. He complains because he has too much of 
the burden of the expense of the church to bear. He says 
that he has the whole church on his shoulders. Then there 
is in the same church a poorer man who contributes much 
less than his rich neighbor, and he, too, complains. He 
complains that the wealthy brother is far too proud of 
what he does, and after all he does not believe that the 
wealthy man is doing as much as one of his means ought 
to do. We want, if possible, to devise a plan that will 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



restore the equilibrium and remove these small jealousies 
and heart-burnings. 

3. It should be a plan that will work with the least de- 
gree of friction possible. 

One of the most perplexing questions in our churches 
is : * ' How can we secure enough money for our necessary 
expenses and do it without wounding anybody's feelings 
and without causing any unpleasantness?" The money 
problem is one that causes more heart-burnings between 
pastors and people ; more ruptures between churches and 
their higher courts, more envyings, jealousies and aliena- 
tions between former friends in the same church than per- 
haps any other. It is a problem that is fairly wearing out 
the spirituality and efficiency of the church. Now when- 
ever we can do something to remove this friction, we, to 
that extent, advance the prosperity of the church. When 
a machine is first invented the friction is sometimes so 
great that the machine tears itself to pieces. All the ex- 
pense saved in the amount of work done is lost in the wear 
and tear of the machine itself. Every unit that is removed 
from the friction of running the machine is one or more 
units added to the value and efficiency of it. Just so in the 
work of the church. Every unit that is taken from the 
worry and annoyance involved in the mechanical opera- 
tions of it will add a great deal to its spiritual power. 

4. It should be a plan that will relieve the deacons of 
the unpleasant and unscriptural task of collecting. 

We need a system with some spontaneity about it— one 
by which, when the appointed time comes, members will 
come of their own accord and deposit their offerings with 
the deacons. That will leave to those officers only the 
scriptural duty of receiving those offerings and disbursing 
them. 

5. It should be a plan that will establish a community 
of interests between a pastor and his congregation and 
draw them into a fuller sympathy with each other. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The preacher ought not to be the richest man in the 
community (unless his property has come from a private 
source, and even then the effect is bad). He ought not to 
live as a prince among the people and " a lord over God's 
heritage, " as is said to be the case in the north of Scotland, 
for instance. It is said that, however abjact the poverty 
of the people may be, the preacher lives in a comfortable 
home. (There, however the minister is supported by the 
State and not by money contributed by the worshippers). 
But if the minister should not be the richest man in the 
community, neither should he be the poorest. ' ' Let him 
that is taught in the word communicate unto him that 
teacheth in all good things.'' To " communicate " means 
' ' to make a common cause with. ' ' Let the hearer make 
common cause with the preacher. Let him give towards 
his support such an amount as, added to similar gifts of 
others, will make the preacher an average man in the com- 
munity. For my part, I would be glad to see the plan of 
a stated salary dispensed with, and another put in its place 
by which the minister's support might adjust itself to the 
ever varying ability of the people. According to the sal- 
ary plan, a stated amount must be paid to the preacher 
every year, whether the people are making much or little. 
In years when business depression prevails, it may be a 
great strain upon a church to meet its obligations to its 
pastor. In successful years it is so easy to pay that it 
never causes the people to have a serious thought of God. 
Now, if possible, such an arrangement should be made 
that the interests of the minister, and of religion generally, 
would rise and fall with those of the people, and so minis- 
ter and people would have an additional pledge of mutual 
sympathy. 

6. It should be a plan that will promote the spiritu- 
ality of the church. 

The very working of the plan itself should have the 
effect of drawing the people closer to God. There should 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



be such a fixed ratio between the amount the people make 
and what they offer for the worship of God, that in the 
act of offering it their thoughts would be turned to God as 
the giver of ' ' every good gift. ' ' Thus in years of pros- 
perity, the largeness of the offering would remind them of 
the bounty of God to them and prompt them to gratitude, 
and in adversity they would be led to humiliation and self- 
examination. 

Now, before I proceed with the other propositions, 
allow me to pause here to lay emphasis upon the desira- 
bility of a plan embodying these features. For while I 
still feel confident that you will concur in the remaining 
propositions, so far as the intellect and heart and conscience 
are concerned, observation has taught me that there are 
always some whose minds and wills part company at this 
point. Let us then make sure of so much as we have thus 
far gained. It is not right and it is not wise to leave such 
an important matter as the support of the kingdom of 
Christ to mere caprice or to be determined by the amount 
of small change people may happen to be carrying with 
them when a collection is taken up on Sunday. No other 
business is carried on without some systematic provision 
and forethought, and why should this ? Let me recom- 
mend some such method as this : Decide first of all that 
you will consecrate to God a definite fraction of your in- 
come. However much more you may give, resolve not to 
give less than that particular fraction. Whether that 
fraction be one-fourth of one per cent. , or one-half of one 
per cent., one, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty per cent., 
whatever it be, let it be settled. If you cannot decide in 
any other way what that fraction should be, I would sug- 
gest this plan : Make an estimate of the amount of money 
your church ought to raise for all purposes, and, com- 
paring your own prosperity with that of the other mem- 
bers of the church, make a just estimate of what part you 
should contribute to the whole. And then when you learn 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



what fraction of your income that is, you will be in a po- 
sition to decide intelligently what fraction you ought to 
give permanently. Now, if a methodical procedure like 
that is adopted, it will result in your having some money 
always on hand for religious uses, and whenever the 
proper time comes you will not need to have the deacons 
dun you, but you can carry your offering promptly and 
gladly and hand it to them. By all means let some intelli- 
gent, consecrated method be substituted for the lax and 
unsystematic habits that prevail with so many Christians. 
We often hear criticism of the manner in which the church 
conducts her different financial operations. Persons ask 
4 'Why doesn't the church have better business methods in 
her work ?" If improvement is needed and is ever to be 
made, it ought to begin among the private members of the 
church. They ought to introduce better business methods 
in their handling of their money for God. The ministers 
who generally have charge of these financial operations, 
put into practice the lessons they in their youth have 
learned as members of our various congregations, and you 
cannot expect a stream to rise higher than its source. If 
it be true that there is any lack of the wisest thrift in the 
management of our home and foreign missions and other 
great enterprises of the church, the best way to effect im- 
provement is to introduce reform into the fountain heads, 
in the congregations. Let our boys who, as ministers and 
elders, will have the control of these enterprises in the 
future, learn to do God's work in the most discreet way 
by seeing good business methods all around them in the 
way God's people make their contributions to the mainten- 
ance of religion. Let me, then, urge this much upon your 
serious attention, even if we cannot go hand in hand to 
the end of the discussion. 

VI. My sixth proposition is : 

At one time in the history of the world a system of re- 
ligious finances was in operation which embodied these fea- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



tures. It was instituted by divine command, and it is the 
only system that we are sure God ever appointed. 

I refer, of course, to the tithe law of the Israelites. 
When an Israelite received the product of his labor, of 
whatever kind it might be, whether grain or oil or wine 
or lambs or whatever else, before using from it himself, 
he set aside a definite fraction of it for the worship of 
God. That fraction was one-tenth or a tithe. That tenth 
belonged to God. It was consecrated; it was holy. "And 
all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land 
or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the 
Lord. And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, 
he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concern- 
ing the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even whatsoever 
passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the 
Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, 
neither shall he charge it. ' 9 (Lev. xxvii, 30-32). There 
was also set apart in Israel about one-tenth of the people 
(to be exact, one tribe out of twelve, the tribe of Levi) 
whose duty it was to do all the official acts of religion. To 
these Levites God gave the tithes of the rest of Israel for 
a means of living. They had no inheritance in the divis- 
ion of the land and their living came from these tithes. 
(Num. xviii, 24). Here then is a system of religious 
revenues that God appointed at one time and it bears the 
stamp of God's approval as a just and wise system. It is 
the only system that does thus bear the clear and un- 
questionable approval of God. It has been maintained 
that God has withdrawn that system and substituted 
another for it, but there is at least a doubt or question as 
to whether He has done so or not. There is no doubt that 
He at one time ordained the tithe law. So that law has 
the distinction of being the only system of religious 
finances concerning which there is no doubt that God did 
appoint and approve of. I shall return to the question of 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



whether or not He has supplanted that system with 
another. 

There are some popular misconceptions of the nature 
of these tithes. 1. Some have understood the tithe to be a 
tithe of one's surplus earnings. I have had right wealthy 
men to tell me that they practiced the tithing plan, when 
I knew perfectly well that they did not do so. If they had 
tithed, their offerings would have amounted to several 
hundred dollars, whereas they did not give, at the most, 
more than $100. They were not telling a known falsehood. 
They simply failed to understand what the tithe meant. 
They thought it meant a tenth of the surplus. They paid 
their family expenses, improved [their homes, decorated 
these homes, purchased books and pictures, indulged in 
luxuries, took pleasure trips, gave presents, and when 
they had spent all they could in these ways and had a few 
hundred dollars left over, they gave a tenth of that to the 
Lord and then imagined that they were tithing as the 
Israelites did. But the tenth which the Israelite gave was 
not a tenth of his net profits or his surplus, but of his un- 
used, undivided, gross income. He deducted the Lord's 
tenth before he took any part for himself. Of course it is 
proper to deduct the business expenses or those expenses 
incurred in the actual making of the income. That cannot 
be fairly reckoned as a part of the income itself. But 
while the business expenses are deducted the personal and 
family expenses ought not to be. 

2. It has sometimes been supposed that the tithe was 
exacted for both religious uses and civil taxes, because 
there was an alliance between the church and the State in 
Israel. Acting upon that theory, some men claim to pay a 
tenth because when they add their taxes and their contri- 
butions to religious purposes they amount to a tenth of their 
income . Now this is a misconception also. Whatever may 
have been the relations between the church and the State 
under the old dispensation, their revenues were kept dis- 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



tinct. The tithes were assigned to the Levites as their living 
and these Levites were religious and not civil officers. They 
were not numbered among the soldiers, they had no in- 
heritance or landed property, they performed no offices of 
a civil or secular government. They were set apart for 
religious duties. All the duties mentioned as proper for 
them were of a religious kind. They were to bear the 
ark, attend upon the tabernacle, minister to the Lord and 
bless the people. On the other hand there were civil 
officers distinct from these, such as judges and kings. 
They exacted taxes of their own. The great quarrel which 
the ten tribes under Jeroboam had with Rehoboam was be- 
cause of the taxes. They demanded that Rehoboam 
should reduce the taxes his father Solomon had imposed 
and he would not do so, but increased them. We do not 
read of their appropriating the tithes nor sharing their 
taxes with the Levites. Uzziah, the king, was stricken 
with leprosy, which clung to him throughout life, for dis- 
regarding this distinction between the civil and religious 
officers in the matter of offering sacrifices. The tithe then 
was a religious tax, and he does not tithe in the Bible 
sense who divides his tenth between the taxes and religious 
officers. 

3. It has sometimes been supposed that when the 
Israelites paid a tenth it was devoted to both charities and 
public worship. There were three kinds of offerings in 
Israel— tithes, alms and free-will offerings. The first of 
these was compulsory and the last two voluntary as to 
quantity. ' The tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. The 
tithe is the Lord's." It did not in any sense belong to the 
man on whose place it was made. It was not his to make 
charitable offerings out of. Suppose you own a farm and 
you put a tenant on it, agreeing to give him one-half of 
the yield for the other. When you go to make a settle- 
ment with him at the end of the year, you find that he 
has a large share and has assigned you a small one. When 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



you inquire the reason, he tells you that he has been help- 
ing the poor in the neighborhood out of your half, and that 
is the explanation of its being so reduced. I think you 
would give him to understand that hereafter if he wished 
to be charitable he must show that charity out of his half 
of the property, and if you wish any of your half to be 
spent in that way you would prefer to distribute it your- 
self. The case is exactly analogous except that God said 
to the Israelite, "I will allow you nine-tenths and you must 
reserve me one-tenth. ' ' If the Israelite wanted to be chari- 
table and give alms he must do it out of his nine-tenths 
and leave the Lord's tenth alone. That was God's in such 
a special sense that if a man took it, it would be stealing. 
That is the very language God's word applies to it. "Ye 
have robbed me," God said to Israel. They replied: 
"Wherein have we robbed Thee ?" He answered : "In 
tithes and offerings. " Wherever else of the tithe law may or 
may not have survived, this much at least has. What- 
ever is contributed for religious uses is contributed to the 
worship of God and not as a charity. The minister, for in- 
stance, is not an object of charity. He may in the provi- 
dence of God become an object of charity. He may be- 
come disabled through disease or injury, and may not have 
any friends to whom he can properly look for assistance 
and he may have to go to the almshouse. When that time 
comes it is his duty to go, and not to go rebelliously, but go 
rejoicingly as to the new sphere in which God permits him 
to labor and suffer for His glory. But so long as he re- 
tains the use of brain and muscle sufficiently to earn his 
own living, he ought to scorn a charity as an affront to his 
manhood and an impeachment of his integrity. What the 
Christian people contribute to the support of religion is 
the tribute they pay to God, and when they have paid it to 
Him He gives it to the minister, as He formerly gave the 
Lord's tenth to the Levite. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



VII. There are those who claim that the tithe is still 
binding, and they present a strong argument in support of 
this claim. 

1. It is claimed that the tithe law was not repealed 
along with the other regulations belonging to the Mosaic 
dispensation, because it did not belong specially to that 
dispensation, but it existed before it. Like the Sabbath 
law, it was in operation before the Mosaic law, and there- 
fore, like the Sabbath law, it is intended to continue after 
the Mosaic law is repealed. (I once asked a gentleman 
who held these views, why it was that the tithe law was 
not put in the Ten Commandments just as the Sabbath 
law was, if it was intended to be so much like that law. 
He answered: ' 'It is in the Ten Commandments. It is 
represented in the eighth commandment which says, 
'Thou shalt not steal, ' for the tithe is the Lord's and it is 
just as truly stealing to take what belongs to God as 
to take what belongs to man. ' ' I throw out that sugges- 
tion for what you may think it is worth. ) Now if we 
ask these advocates of the tithe law what is their ground 
for saying that there was any tithe law before the time 
of Moses, they cite the case of Abraham's paying tithes 
to Melchisedec. The tenth which Abraham paid Mel- 
chisedec was not a voluntary offering. As the Greek 
word in the seventh chapter of Hebrews shows, Mel- 
chisedec "tithed" or exacted tithes of Abraham, showing 
that there was a law or a divine command working in that 
case. Another instance of the operation of the tithe law 
before the time of Moses was that of Jacob's paying a 
tithe. Was it merely by accident that Jacob decided to 
oifer to the Lord exactly the same portion which God had 
demanded of Abraham and which was afterwards fixed in 
the law of Moses ? In further proof of the statement that 
the tithe law did not belong specially to the Mosaic law 
and therefore was not repealed with that law, they refer 
us to the fact that the practice of tithing was not confined 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



to the Israelites. A great many nations practiced it. 
Some claim that the practice has been universal. I have 
never been able to verify that claim. It is not necessary 
to prove that it is universal, for it is remarkable if it 
proves to be general. The question arises, ' 'How did so 
many nations get the idea that a tenth was the proportion 
of the income which they ought to give to religious pur- 
poses?" When the question is asked, "How did the 
nations get the idea of animal sacrifices ? " we answer 
that they received it by tradition from Adam. Adam was 
taught to shed the blood of animals in expiation of sin and 
as a type of the sacrifice of Christ, and the custom was 
handed down from father to son till it prevailed in nearly 
all nations. If this is a satisfactory account of the pre- 
valence of animal sacrifices, why is it not an equally satis- 
factory explanation of the prevalence of tithing, thus 
tracing the custom back to a probable origin in Eden ? 

Another argument by which they seek to prove that 
the tithe law is still binding upon us is that there is no 
sentence in the New Testament expressly repealing that 
law, and if it is repealed no other plan for raising money 
has been substituted for it. It has sometimes been sup- 
posed that the law was formally set aside and a new one 
put in its place by the command in I Cor. xvi, 2: "Upon 
the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him 
in store as God hath prospered him." It is very hard to 
see how this language can be regarded as opposed to 
tithing. Even if the apostle were here discussing the 
raising of money for church purposes, the language ap- 
plies to tithing. If you make a thousand dollars and give 
one hundred to the church, and I make five hundred and 
give fifty, we are giving as "God hath prospered us." 
But the truth is the apostle is not discussing the raising 
of money for the church at all, but for a merely charitable 
purpose, as will be seen by examining the first and the 
third verses of the chapter. If then the law is not ex- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



pressly repealed and no other has been put in its place, 
what right have we to say that it is not in force to-day ? 

3. Another argument that is used to prove that tith- 
ing was intended to continue as God's plan for raising the 
revenues of the church is the language of the apostle in 
I Cor. ix. 13-14 : " Do ye not know that they which min- 
ister about holy things live of the things of the temple? 
and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the 
altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which 
preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. ' ' 

Now I will not claim that such arguments prove that 
the tithe is still binding. I promised at the beginning of 
the discussion that I would not lay down a single main 
proposition, but such as I felt sure I could secure your ab- 
solute concurrence in. I can see how this reasoning, 
strong as it is, may fail to convince you, so that I content 
myself with a statement of the position without claiming 
that it has been established. But if I am not prepared to 
take that position, I am prepared to take a safer and a 
stronger one, and now I proceed to announce my eighth 
proposition from which I do not see that there can be any 
escape. 

VIII. Christians should not be satisfied to give less 
than a tenth. 

1. If the advocates of a tithe law have not proved 
that such a law is obligatory, they have presented an ar- 
gument so strong that no one can, in the face of it, assert 
that the tithe law has been repealed. Such is the state of 
the case that no one can affirm with confidence that he 
knows it has been repealed. And if there is any uncer- 
tainty about it, we dare not withhold the tenth lest we rob 
God. The bare doubts as to whether God laid a special claim 
to that tenth or permitted me to use it, would make me 
afraid to touch it, just as I would have been afraid to 
touch the ark of the covenant after Uzziah had been 
stricken dead for laying his hand upon it. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



2. Again, either the law has been repealed or it has 
not. If it has not, then we are bound to give the tenth. 
If it has been repealed, why has it been ? Doubtless in 
accordance with the analogy of all repeals, it has been 
removed to make way for something larger. The Passover 
has been taken away to make room for the Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper. Bloody sacrifices have been abolished 
because the great antitypical bloody sacrifice has come. 
The temple has been removed that Jehovah might fill the 
earth with His presence, that those who wish to worship 
Him might worship Him in spirit and in truth. So if the 
law of the tenth has been withdrawn, it is doubtless to 
prepare for larger and not smaller offerings. 

Everything else has expanded in the Christian dis- 
pensation. The sphere of worship is enlarged. Formerly 
it was confined within the narrow limits of Palestine, but 
now national boundaries have been broken, and it is to go 
into all the earth. The motive is increased. If a tenth 
was a fitting tribute of worship to the Jew, who knew the 
Christ only through the obscurities of symbol and of 
prophecy, what should be the measure of our gratitude 
when we know the dying love and tender sympathies of 
Jesus and the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit? 

3. The appeal becomes even stronger yet when we 
contrast ourselves with the heathen. The Egyptians paid 
tithes to the worship of an ox, the Greeks and Romans 
paid tithes to the worship of their unclean deities, the 
Mormons pay tithes to support their infamous religion, 
and when we think of all the glories that invest our re- 
ligion, and with which it will invest us, can we yield prec- 
edence to these heathen religions? Blood-bought servants 
of Jesus, shall we not remove this dishonor from us that 
when all restrictions are removed, and we are left to 
choose what amount we shall give as an expression of our 
love and a symbol of our liberty, we give less than the 
heathen do? 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



At three different times I have made a special study 
of this subject, and each time the study has been as ex- 
haustive as I could make it. Each time I have accompa- 
nied the study with a special prayer that I might be 
guided to see the truth, to know whether this law has 
been repealed or not. I have asked for views upon that 
question so clear that I might not only know how to act 
myself, but, as a public teacher, I might be able to point 
out the path of duty to God's people and say to them con- 
fidently, "this is certainly the truth.' ' God has not seen 
fit to answer the prayer in that way, but he has answered 
it in a better way. He has not shown me certainly 
whether the law is binding or is not, but instead of giving 
me a strong probable argument on one side or the other, 
he has enabled me to plead for the practice of tithing by 
an argument that is to my mind irrefragable. The rea- 
soning seems to me so compact that I do not see a crevice 
in which the point of a needle may be inserted. 

It is proper at this point to allude briefly to some of 
the common practical objections to tithing. I might say 
in general that all the objections brought against the 
practice of tithing in this day, could have been brought 
against it with the same force in ancient Israel. 

1. There are some who say : "I am too poor to pay a 
tenth of my income. ' ' But they are not really poorer than 
many who had to pay tithes in Israel. They are not poorer 
than the laborers who "earned a penny a day," when 
Christ was on earth. 

2. Others object that they do not know what their in- 
come is and so cannot give a tenth of it. I admit that 
there is some practical difficulty here, and there are differ- 
ent kinds of difficulties in different kinds of business. No 
general rule can be prescribed. Each man will have to 
settle this question for himself and by the help of such 
information as his account books give. But it is possible 
in every case, by a close study of the situation, to reach a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



safe working estimate. The Jews, no doubt, had the same 
sorts of difficulties in making an estimate that we have. 
From the circle of my own acquaintance I recall ministers, 
lawyers, physicians, merchants and farmers who have 
practiced it. It has been suggested that if the case were 
reversed and God had offered to add a tenth to our income 
instead of subtracting a tenth from it we would very 
readily make some sort of satisfactory estimate. 

3. It is sometimes objected that tithing is wrong in 
principle, since it creates the impression that only a tenth 
belongs to God, whereas all that we have is His and all 
must be used for His glory. In reply to this objection, I 
would ask if it is not true that God owned everything that 
the Israelites owned too ? And yet God said, ' 'The tithe 
is the Lord's." That tenth was the Lord's in a sense in 
which he did not lay claim to the remainder. That tenth 
was simply a tribute, it was a token of the fact that God 
had a title to the whole. We call the Sabbath "The Lord's 
Day," but we do not mean thereby that only one day in 
the week is the Lord's. That day is specially consecrated 
to him in token of the fact that he owns all our time. 
Now the question for us as Christians is, when we go to 
consecrate a part of our substance to the Lord as an 
acknowledgment that He has a right to it, what is a 
proper proportion ? Should we give more or less than the 
Israelite did ? 

IX. Tithing brings a blessing both spiritual and ma- 
terial. 

I need hardly discuss the spiritual benefit that would 
accrue, as that is almost self-evident. Every act of con- 
secration whether of ourselves or of our susbtance is 
attended with spiritual blessing. The remarkable thing 
about tithing is that one does not lose, but rather gains by 
it financially. If it had been desirable to do so, I could 
have occupied the whole hour I have been speaking with 
the recital of the cases of persons who have been blessed 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



with success in business as the result of their paying 
tithes. The first case I met with in my own experience 
was that of a gentleman, 75 years of age, who was quite a 
wealthy man. He told me that after he began to pay 
tithes his contributions were seven or eight times as much 
as they had ever been and he felt the loss of what he gave 
less than he had ever done. A few years ago, when this 
subject was discussed throughout our church, a minister 
wrote a number of postal cards to eminent ministers in 
the church asking their opinion of the practice of tithing. 
He was particularly anxious to see the answer of a vener- 
able minister, who was reputed to have made a great deal 
of money during his life. This was the substance of the 
answer he received ; ' 'For several years after I entered 
the ministry I had a hard time. I received a small salary 
and found it very hard to make it support my family. At 
last I began to pay a tenth of my salary to the worship of 
God. I then began to feel a relief from the strain of 
poverty and even to accumulate a little. As this re- 
lief and success came, I increased my contributions 
beyond the tenth, and the more I gave the more I 
made until now I am considered rich. So that my 
experince has led me to object to the practice of 
paying one-tenth to the Lord. I think that is too little." 
I know a young lawyer in the Southwest whose friends 
once asked him how it happened that he always gave so 
readily and so generously to every religious object that 
was presented to him. They could not understand it be- 
cause he did not seem to have any better clients nor any 
more of them then the other lawyers in the town. He said : 
"Whenever I get any money I always put a tenth of it 
into a box by itself. So when I am asked to make a con- 
tribution there is always plenty of money to do it with, 
and it does not hurt me to give it because the money is 
already consecrated to the Lord, and I could not use it for 
any other purpose anyhow." A gentleman has sent out a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



circular to thousands of people in this country advocating 
the custom of tithing and challenging the production of a 
single case in which a man had proven a failure in business 
who gave a tenth of his income to the worship of God. 
Though that challenge had been standing now for years 
and the circular is all the while actively sent out in every 
direction, not one such case has ever been reported to the 
author. Sometimes it has been reported that the success 
of such persons is not uniform and unbroken. Sometimes 
they meet with business reverses, such as will come to the 
most prosperous men, but in all cases they recover from 
their embarrassments and start again at once on the up- 
ward grade. If the rule even had many exceptions it would 
be wonderful, how much more wonderful when it has no 
exception. 

It would be wrong in me not to give you the benefit of 
my own experience. If I should give you that experience 
it would not be a violation of the Saviour's command, 
"Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. " 
That commandment refers to alms and not to what is paid 
to the worship of God, which was a public act. Every 
word I bring you this morning, I bring from the hotly con- 
tested battle-ground of a personal experience. I come to 
tell you of victory, but a victory achieved through absolute 
surrender, and of relief from financial straits brought 
about by giving to the Lord the honor due to him. 

Some will doubtless say that this is an appeal to a 
wrong motive. But ought we to characterize it in this 
way when God distinctly appeals to this motive in his 
Word ? He makes that very appeal in the verse which I 
have chosen for a text for this sermon. ' 'Honor the Lord 
with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine 
increase : so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy 
presses shall burst out with new wine,' ' Prov. iii, 9. "There 
is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there is that 
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty," 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Prov. xi, 24. ' 'Give and it shall be given unto you ; good 
measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running 
over, shall men give into your bosom/ ' Luke, vi. 38. 
' 'Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there 
may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, 
saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows 
of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall 
not be room enough to receive it, Malachi iii, 10. 

Now I have concluded what I proposed to say on this 
important subject, I have presented the subject in a 
series of nine propositions as follows : 

L In order that the church may do the work which 
the Lord has given it to do, it must have money. 

II. In order that the church may do the work which 
the Lord has given it to do, it must have a great deal of 
money. 

III. The church of to-day has money enough to do the 
work, if it were only consecrated to that end. 

IV. The church has not properly consecrated its 
money to this work. 

V. A desirable plan for bringing the church up to a 
proper standard of consecration will embody the following 
features : 

1. It will result in a sufficient supply of money to do 
the work. 

2. It will distribute the burdens of church support 
equitably among the members. 

3. It will work with the smallest possible degree of 
friction. 

4. It will relieve the deacons of the unscriptural task 
of collecting. 

5. It will establish a community of interests between 
a pastor and his congregation and draw them into a fuller 
sympathy with each other. 

6. It will promote the spirituality of the church. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



VI. At one time in the history of the world a system 
of religious finances was in operation which embodied these 
features. It was instituted by divine command, and it is 
the only system that we are sure God ever appointed. I 
refer, of course, to the tithe law of the Israelites. 

VII. There are those who claim that the tithe law is 
still binding, and they present a strong argument in sup- 
port of this claim. 

VIII. Whether this argument is conclusive or not, 
Christians should not be satisfied to give less than a tenth. 

IX. Tithing brings a blessing both spiritual and 
material. 

I prefaced these propositions with the statement that 
I would not announce one leading proposition to which I 
did not feel sure of securing your assent. I thought it 
would serve to arouse your attention, if I would tell you 
what great confidence I had in these positions and in the 
prospect of securing your concurrence in them. Now 
have I fulfilled the opening promise and are we fully agreed 
as to the truth of these propositions ? If you believe the 
positions are not tenable, I do not ask you to adopt them. 
If you are in doubt as to the correctness of them, the sub- 
ject is one of too much importance to every interest you 
hold dear for you to rest in that uncertainty. You owe it 
to your temporal welfare, you owe it to your spiritual and 
eternal interests, you owe it to your family for their in- 
struction in divine things, and you owe it to the church you 
have promised to serve, to remove the doubt by continu- 
ing to investigate the subject till you reach a satisfactory 
view of it. But suppose you do not occupy either of these 
attitudes toward the subject. Suppose that instead of 
having any doubt on the question and instead of being 
convinced that I am mistaken in my views, you are fully 
persuaded of the truth of every one of these nine proposi- 
tions, permit me to press the question, "What will you do 
about it ? " Will the opinions so formed have any effect on 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the life, and if so, what will that effect be ? From an ex- 
perience of several years I might forecast some of the possi- 
ble results. I have presented these views before a congre- 
gation, where some in it who had been my very warm 
personal friends, became highly incensed and left the 
church in a towering passion, manifesting their anger in 
about the same way that children would do under the 
circumstances. While that is about the silliest way to 
treat the matter, it is not always the most barren of re- 
sults. Sometimes a little warmth of resentment like that 
ends in a complete surrender and an enthusiastic discharge 
of the duty that had caused the feeling. So in that case, 
while these friends never renewed their friendship for me 
with the same ardor, I have observed with great delight 
their increased devotion to the church and their more 
liberal support of all its enterprises. I can always be re- 
signed to the sacrifice of a personal friendship for such 
results as these. On one occassion, when I had preached 
about these things, one member of the church approached 
another and asked, "What are we going to do about 
that ? " He replied, "That was a good sermon. " "Ah ! 
but," said his friend, "What are we going to do about 
it?" He answered again, "That was a good sermon." 
Now there are a few things that are as delicious to a min- 
ister as the praises of the people of God when they are 
accompanied with evidence of their increasing love for the 
Master, but a minister should not want any praises which 
he cannot lay as a tribute at the Master's feet. When 
the applause is not accompanied by a renewed consecration 
of the hearer, it is a dangerous indication and one which 
every faithful minister must deplore. No sermon is "a 
good sermon" except in the light of its results. 

Again, there are those who plainly say that they are 
convinced that it is their duty to pay tithes, but who flatly 
refuse to do it. One Monday morning, succeeding a 
Sabbath on which I had preached on this subject, I met a 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



gentleman on the street who had been in the congrega- 
tion. He was such a gentleman, in every best sense of 
the word ! One could not but be attracted by his pleasant 
bearing and his genuine character. He came out of his 
way to speak to me and to refer to the sermon. He con- 
cluded by saying, ' ' I regard the argument as absolutely 
unanswerable, and all that I can say is that we do not 
always do what we know to be our duty. ' ' He shook my 
hand, bowed politely and passed on. I thought he sighed. 
His face certainly wore an expression of sadness. Well 
he might be sad! There are not many things fraught with 
so much spiritual disaster as the deliberate refusal to do a 
known duty. Once when I had preached on this subject 
to a congregation, I concluded by making an estimate of 
the funds that they could control if they would adopt 
these suggestions. I showed how it would extricate the 
church from its embarrassment, and what they could ac- 
complish for the Master besides. My estimate was a safe 
one and I challenged them to show that it was not. Some 
of the best business men in the congregation met casually 
that week and they concluded to review my figures and 
they unanimously agreed that my estimate was far too 
small. When I heard it, my heart leaped with expecta- 
tion, and I eagerly asked my informant what they were 
going to do about it. He answered with a shrug of his 
shoulders, ' 1 Nothing.' ' I will tell you what the subse- 
quent history of that church has been, and leave you to 
judge of its connection with that incident. From that 
day to this, the financial strength of that church has 
steadily wasted away. Some of their best men have died, 
many have moved away and some who were left and most 
willing to help it, have lost their property. Now it is 
with the greatest difficulty that they can supply them- 
selves with preaching twice a month. 

When, therefore, I stand up to-day once more to pro- 
claim the truth as I see it, I realize that it is a critical 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



time in the spiritual history of many of you. I feel sure 
that many agree with me fully, and they are then brought 
face to face with what is to them a clear command of the 
Master, and if they deliberately refuse to obey that com- 
mand, a baneful blight may settle upon their lives, such 
as falls upon the sinner who is almost persuaded to accept 
Christ but will not yield and who lapses into a deadly indif- 
ference. When the children of Israel stood on the very 
border of the promised land and would not obey God's 
command to enter it and possess it, they were doomed to 
their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Every 
duty is a privilege, and when God causes us to stand up 
before a duty by clearly revealing it to us, it is like stand- 
ing on the verge of a new Canaan of spiritual happiness 
and power and glory, and only woe and wandering can 
result from a refusal to enter in. God help you in this 
critical hour and save you from such a mistake. May He 
kindly lead you to surrender at discretion and, gladly 
bowing at his feet, to say, "Lo! I come, I delight to do 
Thy will, Oh! My God." 

I am done. I am grateful for the patient attention 
you have given me through two sermons of unusual length. 
I bring this offering and lay it at the Master's feet and 
pray that He may make it a blessing to you. ' 'Bring all 
your tithes into the store-house and try me now herewith." 
See if I will not make you grow in grace and knowledge. 
See if I will not convert your sons and daughters. See 
"If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour 
you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to 
receive it." 



THE DOORS THROWN WIDE OPEN, INVITING ALL TO COME; 
PEWS DECLARED ABSOLUTELY FREE 

The following was adopted by the congregation of the 
First Presbyterian Church, at a meeting held March 
4, 1894: 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



' ' Voluntary contributions ' as the Lord hath pros- 
pered' is the literal scriptural mode. If each gives as he 
thinks right as between him and the Lord, and as the 
Holy Spirit may direct him in answer to prayer for guid- 
ance, irrespective of what his neighbor may give, we shall 
doubtless have all the money the church needs. 

' 1 The Session fully recognizes the importance of having 
families seated together in public worship, and therefore 
recommends that although the pews shall be absolutely 
free, families continue to occupy their present pews (un- 
less more desirable ones are or shall become vacant, in 
which case the first family applying to the Deacons will 
be assigned to such vacant pew) and that the right of 
family occupancy be fully recognized among members, 
but that the ushers shall be authorized to seat strangers 
and others at their discretion.' ' 

Receipts from pew rents for the year ending 

March 31, 1894 . . . .' $2,710 80 

Free-will offerings for pastor's salary and ex- 
penses during the year ending March 31, 
1895 . 4,236 72 

Increase for the year ending March 31, 1895 . . $1,525 92 

During the year ending March 31, 1895, $1,127.54 was 
applied to the payment of the church debt from the sur- 
plus from contributions for pastor's salary and current 
expenses. 

It is now nearly fifteen years since the change went 
into effect. More money for current expenses of the 
church has been collected within that time than was ever 
collected from pew rents in any like period under the old 
plan. But better than that there has been literally no 
friction or unpleasantness in collecting money and best of 
all the plan is RIGHT." 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



THANKSGIVING AT THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 1898. 

At the First Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning 
June 19, 1898, a thanksgiving service was held to com- 
memorate the liquidating of the church debt, which had 
been hanging over the church for twenty-six years. Rev. 
A. M. Fraser, D. D., the pastor, amidst thunder and 
lightning and a heavy rain storm outside that almost dark- 
ened the inside of the church, preached an earnest and 
thankful sermon from a passage in the 84th Psalm that 
will never be forgotten or fail to be appreciated by his 
hearers. He gave a short sketch of the church, which he 
interspersed with tender references to the sacrifices and 
trials of the members of the church, many of whom have 
been gathered to their fathers, and all of whom groaned 
under the burden of the debt. 



Correction— The two sermons by Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., 
subject : "The Worship of God with our Substance," were delivered 
in February, 1894, and not in February, 1904, as stated on page 84. 



3^ 

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CHAPTER XII 



MISS MARY JULIA BALDWIN 

THE Augusta Female Seminary was incorporated by 
an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed 
January 30, 1845, designating as trustees thereof the 
following persons: 

Francis McFarland, James Crawford, William Brown, 
Adam Link, John McCue, David Fultz, Addison Waddell, 
Solomon J. Love, J. Marshall McCue, William Frazier, 
Alexander S. Hall, William M. Tate, James A. Cochran, 
Benjamin M. Smith. 

By an Act of the Legislature of Virginia, passed dur- 
ing the session of 1895- '96, at the request of the Board of 
Trustees, the name of this institution was changed from 
Augusta Female Seminary to Mary Baldwin Seminary as 
an acknowledgment of their high appreciation of the valua- 
ble services and unparalleled success of the principal for 
thirty-four years. 

Endowed with wonderful business talent, fine execu- 
tive ability, and clear judgment in management, she has 
made the Seminary one of the foremost institutions in the 
land for the higher education of women, and from it have 
gone forth many noble, brilliant daughters to various 
spheres of usefulness ; some to labor as missionaries in 
foreign fields, and others as principals of educational 
institutions. The Seminary now stands a great monument 
to her untiring energy, arduous labors, devotion to her 
profession, and the Master's work. Si monumentum 
quaeris circumspice. 

The estimate of Miss Baldwin by the Trustees of Mary 
Baldwin Seminary is set forth in the following Memorial 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



prepared by Judge Grattan, and adopted at the first meet- 
ing of the Board after her death : 

' 'After nearly half a century of earnest, faithful and 
successful labor, Mary Julia Baldwin passed to her rest at 
8 a. m. July 1, 1897, in the 68th year of her age. 

"The time of her departure was appropriate. The fields 
around her native city were yellow with the golden harvest, 
the orchards of her loved Valley laden with ripening fruit. 
The flowers in every yard and garden exhaled incense. 
A fitting time for this faithful life to end, for this mortal 
to put on immortality, for this tired reaper to lay down her 
well-used sickle and take up her golden harp. 

' 'She was the daughter of Dr. William D. Baldwin and 
Margaret L. Sowers. Left an orphan in her seventeenth 
year she was reared by her maternal grandparents, John 
C. Sowers and his wife, and while she was the recipient 
of all the care and love that could be bestowed upon her 
by these good people, she must have sadly missed a 
mother's tenderness and pined for a mother's love. May 
we not see the hand of a wise Providence in this, which 
fitted her so well to fill the place of mother and guide and 
friend to the lonely girls who left their happy homes to 
come to her ? She knew the sorrows of their hearts and 
how to win them to love and truth. Is there one of them 
in this fair land upon whose ear this mournful news shall 
fall, who will not feel a mother's loss in her ? Unmarried 
and childless she passed away, and yet in all the borders 
of this Southland her daughters will rise up and call her 
blessed. 

"She was educated at the Augusta Female Seminary, 
then in charge of the Rev. Rufus W. Bailey and her 
whole life was spent in the city of her birth. Modest and 
retiring, it was with difficulty she was induced to under- 
take, in conjunction with Miss Agnes McClung, the con- 
duct of the Seminary in 1863; but having entered upon 
her duties all doubts vanished and these two, complements 



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of each other, moved on from adventure to success. 
Since 1880 she had the sole conduct of the school, now in 
honor of her named, by act of the Legislature, Mary Bald- 
win Seminary. 

"It is difficult to analyze the character of one so well 
rounded. She was modest without timidity, tender with- 
out effusion, firm without severity, kind but true, her 
justice was nice and discriminating and so tempered with 
mercy as to lose its sting. Her judgment was clear; her 
convictions strong; her faith firm; her will determined. 
She never strayed from the paths of duty to walk in ways 
of pleasure, but flowers sprang under her feet and bless- 
ings attended her progress. Her great generosity was 
without ostentation, guided by wisdom, and neither bound- 
ed by sect nor continent. She loved her friends without 
dissimulation and never had an enemy. She was often- 
times bold to audacity in the conduct of her school, but 
the secret spring of her conduct was an unfaltering faith 
in her Heavenly Father and the efficacy of fervent prayer. 
An atmosphere of purity and holiness seemed to surround 
her, which repelled the coarser things of the world, while 
it mellowed and fathomed the higher and more refined. 

"Her place in the hearts of this people will never be 
filled. 

She scattered bounty o'er a naked land 

And read her history in its grateful eyes, 
Servant of God, well done. 

By the will of Miss Mary Julia Baldwin, which was 
recorded in the Corporation Clerk's office of this city on 
July 8, 1897, it is recited that the late Miss Agnes R. 
McClung having by will given her interest of one-third in 
two pieces of ground, purchased from the estate of the 
late Judge L. P. Thompson, to the trustees of Augusta 
Female Seminary to take effect at the death of Miss Bald- 
win, she, Miss Mary J. Baldwin, devises her interest of 
two-thirds in said property to the Trustees of said Augusta 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Female Seminary; also that property known as ' 'Hill-Top, " 
as well as the personal property belonging to her and 
in carrying on said Seminary, such as furniture, musical 
instruments, apparatus, books, etc. 

After the payment of sundry legacies to friends and 
the bequest of $3,000 to the First Presbyterian Church and 
of $2,000 to the Second Presbyterian Church; of $10,000 
to Foreign Missions and $5,000 to Domestic Missions, and 
a clause providing that the daughters of the succes- 
sive pastors of the First and Second Presbyterian Churches 
of Staunton be instructed free of charge by said Seminary 
in all branches of education and accomplishment taught 
therein, she gave all other property belonging to her, both 
real and personal, to the Trustees of said Augusta Female 
Seminary. 

UNVEILING OF THE MARY BALDWIN MEMORIAL WINDOW 

The following address was delivered by Rev. A. M. 
Fraser, D. D., on the occasion of the unveiling of the Mary 
Baldwin Memorial Window in the Chapel of the Mary 
Baldwin Seminary, May 24, 1901: 

REV. DR. FRASER'S ADDRESS 

On behalf of the Mary Baldwin Seminary, its trustees, its 
officers, its teachers, its pupils, its employees, every one of whom has 
a proprietary interest in the memory of Miss Baldwin, I accept this 
window which has been placed here as a memorial of the honored 
woman for whom the school is named. On behalf of the City of 
Staunton, which feels a maternal pride in her most distinguished 
daughter, I accept this tribute from the alumnae, a noble band of 
matrons and young women, scattered abroad throughout the United 
States and in foreign lands, makers of homes, of communities, of 
churches, and missionaries of the cross on the frontiers of civilization, 
who themselves have been molded by the gentle but powerful 
influence of this great, modest spirit. 

We receive the window as a monument, that will not allow to 
perish the memory of our benefactor and friend. When the Israelites 
passed dry shod over the river Jordan, they erected on the other side 
a* monumental pile of the stones they had gathered in the dry 



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bed of the river, that in the years to come when their children should 
ask, "What mean ye by these stones? " they might answer, "This 
Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord." As 
successive classes of young ladies come into this institution and ask, 
"Why is it called the Mary Baldwin Seminary?" they will be told 
it was named for the woman whose genius made its walls to rise and 
whose philanthropy gave it a permanent endowment. But when they 
enter this chapel and see that window, they will know without being 
told not only that Miss Baldwin was great and good, but also that 
there was a grace and a charm in her life, because her pupils loved 
her and they have risen up to "call her blessed." 

If you will turn with me for a while and study the details of the 
design of the window you will see, what the excellent poem just read 
has already led you to anticipate, how fittingly the ornamental 
execution makes it serve the purpose of a memorial. 

The pretty device at the top is an emblem in heraldry. It is the 
coat of arms of the Baldwin family. It was not by accident that Miss 
Baldwin was a rare woman. She was a descendant of that family, 
honorable in history and all of its associations, whose unsullied name 
she bore. Lower down in the design we see a spray of flowers on 
either hand, roses on the left and lillies on the right. These flowers 
are the emblems respectively of the royal houses of England and 
France. I am told they are put here to perpetuate the information 
that Miss Baldwin, like Queen Victoria herself, was descended from 
both Alfred the Great and William the Norman. Lower down still, 
on the stem of the torch of knowledge and near its base, is the device 
of a spinning wheel. That is the official seal of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution. Near ancestors of Miss Baldwin were among 
the heroes of that struggle for the independence of America. She 
felt great pride in that fact and took a deep interest in the Daughters 
of the Revolution. For these reasons that official seal has been given 
a place in the design. Clear perception, a strong grasp of facts, lofty 
purpose, bold enterprise, daring execution, tireless energy, purity of 
heart, honesty of mind, unselfish benevolence, exquisite modesty, 
profound and simple piety were some of the traits which she gleaned 
from all the generations of her people who had gone before her on 
both sides of the house, and bound them in the single sheaf of her 
own character. 

Consider also the torch of knowledge which is so prominent in the 
foreground. For thirty-four years she held the torch of knowledge 
in her hand in this institution. The Seminary was her torch of knowl- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



edge. How brightly it shone, and how far, and how long its rays will 
linger and illumine and bless, the alumnae themselves are the best 
testimonial. 

But mere secular learning was no object with Miss Baldwin and 
it was no concern of her heart. Knowledge transfused with the grace 
of religion and sanctified by it was the consuming zeal of her life. 
Long after money ceased to be a consideration with her, long after 
she discontinued the active work of instruction, long after she was 
compelled by failing health to relinquish the reins of administration, 
she held on to the school with a marvellous tenacity, in order that 
she might gather young girls about her and by the influence of her 
person and by her prayers might win them for Jesus Christ and for 
the service of religion. It was, therefore, a happy thought to spread 
against the stem of that torch of knowledge and make the central 
object in the whole design, an open Bible, inscribing upon its pages 
those words from the Latin version Dominus illuminatio mea, "The 
Lord is my light. ' ' For her, there was no light in any knowledge if it 
was not according to this light. 

Next, inscribed upon a scroll comes the name Mary Julia Bald- 
win, a name which in this community, at least, we believe will be 
immortal. 

Following the names are the dates of her birth and death. It is a 
singular fact that while Miss Baldwin's life was a long one, just one 
half of it was spent in comparative obscurity and inactivity, and her 
special gifts were not suspected by herself or any one else. We often 
hear one say, "I am of no use in the world." Miss Baldwin's life was a 
complete refutation of that error. At the age of thirty-four she 
might have said with as much reason as most people who say it, "I 
am of no use in the world. ' ' And yet all unknown to her there lay 
before her and opened to her a career of extraordinary usefulness and 
renown. Truly "We know not what a day may bring forth," and 
truly "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood 
leads on to fortune." 

At the foot of the window is the modest recital that this window 
is "Erected by the Alumnae Association." It is that fact which lends 
its peculiar value to the tribute. It would not be the high enconium 
that it is if it had been erected by any other hands. While it speaks 
most eloquently of Miss Baldwin's worth, it speaks no less eloquently, 
though unconsciously, of that of the alumnae. It is because the 
alumnae are what they are that we hold our high opinion of Miss 
Baldwin who made them what they are. It is because they appre- 
ciate her that we know them to be what they are. So in receiving 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



this memorial window at your hands we dedicate it to the double office 
of commemorating at once the virtues of the great teacher and those 
of her pupils. 

Once more, may I direct your attention to the two substan- 
tial columns flanking the design on either hand. May they not serve 
to suggest the two pillars on which rests the whole fabric of Miss 
Baldwin's work: her moral character and her intellectual ability. 

The Good Book says, "The righteous shall be held in everlasting 
remembrance." It is for God alone to make the remembrance of the 
righteous "everlasting," we are doing what we can to-day to make it 
at least lasting. How long will this window last ? Shall it be fifty 
years, a hundred years, five hundred, a thousand years ? I pledge you 
that we shall take it into sacred keeping and resolve that it shall out- 
last everything else in this school except its name. If by the wear 
and tear of time, these walls, which have already stood for nearly a 
hundred years, should fall and it should become necessary to build 
another chapel, we would build it to fit that window. If by the pro- 
gress of invention the houses we now use should become as antiquated 
as cave dwellings are compared with them, the problem for the future 
architect will be to build his structure in harmony with this graceful 
relic. If by the further progress of invention, houses may be dispensed 
with and architecture itself become a relic or a lost art, the genius 
which works this transformation in the modes of human living must 
also devise some way to preserve what is dear to human sentiment 
and make some casket for this jewel, for what this woman hath done 
must be told for a memorial of her. 

Again we receive the window as a suggestion — the inauguration 
of a movement, the first of a group of monuments. Already the 
happy thought has taken root of erecting another here in honor of 
the full graduates of the Seminary. I believe I am in a position to say 
that when a young woman has mastered the university course in this 
institution and has enrolled herself among the full graduates, she 
deserves a monument of her own for the capacity and the indomitable 
perseverance and courage she has shown in that achievement. 

We shall also want a window that in a pecular sense shall be the 
companion of this one, a memorial of Miss Agnes McClung, whose 
lofty character and wide acquaintance contributed dignity and fame 
to the undertaking at the outset, whose sanctified wisdom helped to 
build the school, whose motherly influence and sympathy radiated to 
the whole circle of girls that gathered about her and who at her death 
bequeathed her earnings to the endowment. 

We should also perpetuate the name of the Rev. Mr. Baily who 
first conceived the thought of founding the school, to whose judicious 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and faithful labors we owe the inception of it, and of whom we have 
now no other memorial than the portrait which adorns the parlor walls. 

Speaking of our debts of gratitude suggests that there are some 
words which should be spoken of the distinguished gentleman who so 
ably and touchingly presented this window to us on behalf of the 
alumna?. We feel to-day more than ever before how much we owe 
Miss Mary Julia Baldwin and the Mary Baldwin Seminary to the 
sagacity of Mr. Waddell. He was one of those who rocked the cradle 
of the Seminary in its infancy, for he was one of Mr. Baily's 
co-laborers and one of the first contributors to the foundation. It 
was his penetration that first discovered Miss Baldwin's fitness for 
the responsible position of principal. What though he was not at first 
aware of the full value of his discovery ; what though he mistook for 
only an unusual order of talent what afterwards proved to be no 
mean order of genius, it was he who made the suggestion that she be 
called to this great trust. From that time to the day of her death, he 
was her chosen, intimate and trusted adviser. It is true she did not 
always follow his advice, but it is true that she almost always did. 
And when she did not follow his advice, she always respected it and 
always used it in forming her own opinions. He could not always 
restrain what he often thought was her too daring enterprise, but 
many a time did he save her from the opposite extreme of despondency 
to which her temperament rendered her peculiarly liable. The result is 
that to-day the impress of his judgment and his loving heart is seen on 
everything connected with this institution. 

And now on this occasion he has added the crown to all his long 
services by the admirable address with which he has presented this 
memorial window. Without the slightest jealousy of the fame of his 
great protege, without extravagant pride in his great discovery, with 
a glowing admiration, with the moderation of truth, with the accuracy 
of the trained historian, and with the skill of an artist he has placed 
before us a pen picture of Miss Baldwin, in lieu of any photograph or 
any portrait by the artist's brush. I feel that the sentiment of the 
Seminary will not be fully gratified and our minster abbey will not be 
complete in its array of monuments till loving and reverential hands 
shall have placed somewhere in this chapel an imperishable memorial 
to Mr. Joseph Addison Waddell. 

If I may for a few moments rob him of his office as the represen- 
tative of the alumnae and presume to speak for both them and the 
Seminary, I would say that every heart craves for him the most gra- 
cious benedictions of God. We pray that he may live many years to 
love this school and labor for it and pray for it, that his remaining 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



years may be the happiest and most fruitful of his life and that there 
may be light for him at the eventide. 

Once more and briefly we receive the window as an education and 
an inspiration. It is said that in those cities of the old world where are 
gathered the most numerous and the best specimens of art in museums 
and galleries and exposed in open parks and market places, the people 
themselves who live in the constant contemplation of these ideals of 
beauty, at length conform themselves to the models in face and figure. 
So we have placed here in this room, that is used as both a chapel and 
a study hall, this object which gathers into itself all that is romantic 
in chivalry, all that is inspiring in history, all that is refining in educa- 
tion and all that is saving and ennobling in religion as these were 
represented in the person of Miss Baldwin. As the young ladies shall 
pursue their studies and conduct their worship in the presence of it, 
we shall trust that they will gradually be molded to the image unto 
which she attained and that each in her own measure may reflect the 
character of Miss Baldwin as every dew drop reflects the whole image 
of the sun. 

On behalf of the Seminary, then, I accept this memorial presented 
by the alumnae, and I tender to them our congratulations upon the 
completion of this noble undertaking and our thanks for their costly 
and exquisite contribution to the adornment of this hall. 

Staunton, Va., May 24, 1901. 



[134] 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE REV. JAMES A. QUARLES, D. D., LL. D. 

DR. QUARLES, whose sermon follows, was born in 
Cooper County, Missouri, April 30, 1837. He was 
educated at Westminster College, in Missouri, the 
University of Virginia, and Princeton Theological Semi- 
nary. After serving as pastor of churches in Lexington 
and Saint Louis, Mo., he became president of Elizabeth 
Aull Seminary, at Lexington, Mo. In 1886 he was elected 
Professor of Moral Philosophy in Washington and Lee 
University, at Lexington, Va., which position he continued 
to hold until his death, in 1907. 

During these last twenty years, in which he lived 
within the bounds of the Presbytery of Lexington, there 
were few ministers in it who preached in as many of its 
churches or had as wide an acquaintance with its member- 
ship as Dr. Quarles. There were few if any more widely 
and greatly loved and whose preaching was so much 
enjoyed. He took great delight in thus serving the 
churches and mingling with the people. It was quite 
common for him to walk to his appointments, even when 
they were many miles distant. He was a man of scholar- 
ship and extensive reading, and genial and affectionate in 
disposition, and always preached interestingly and with 
unction. 

It is eminently proper that a sermon from Dr. Quarles 
should have a place in this memorial volume. He supplied 
the pulpit of the First Church very frequently, and 
no where was he more beloved or his preaching more highly 
appreciated than here. The particular sermon inserted 
here is a fair specimen of his preaching and gives a cor- 



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Rev. James A. Quarles, D. D., LL. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



rect idea of his style. It is thoroughly characteristic of 
the man, who was himself so deeply imbued with the love 
of which it discourses and who was so lovable. It is also 
interesting because it is the last sermon he ever preached 
for us. 

" God is Love." } -IJohn VIII: b-16* 

I hesitate to deliver the message with which I am 
charged to-night; not that there is aught in it that is dis- 
agreeable to the speaker, or that will prove unwelcome to 
the hearer. I shrink because these lips are unworthy 
bearers of the message and tremble with diffidence as 
they undertake to utter it. No painter has ever yet 
attempted to put the sun upon the canvas; the pigments 
are not to be found on earth that can display its glory, nor 
the eye with strength to gaze upon its dazzling radiance. 
There are some thoughts which you master, that are like 
the sapling, which you can encircle with the grasp of your 
hand. There are other thoughts which master you, that 
are like the giant redwood of California, which you vainly 
try to encompass with the widest embrace of your arms. 
Some are foothills which you easily climb; others are Mt. 
Everest in the Himalayas, whose summit no human foot 
has trodden; at whose base one pauses in reverent admira- 
tion. Sir Henry Drummond has written on what he calls 
"The greatest thing on earth"; to-night we are to con- 
sider that which is not only the greatest thing on earth, 
but also the greatest thing in heaven. 

When the command came from the Master, whose 
servant I am, that I should bear this message to you, I 
looked into His revealed Word to find that expression of it 
which seemed most richly freighted with the truth, so 
that the text might be a sermon in itself, and leave 
nothing for the speaker beyond its simple, loving utter- 

*Sermon preached extemporaneously in the First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, 
Va., Sunday evening, March 22, 1903 ; and written out since at the request of Mr. Arista 
Hoge, Deacon and Treasurer of the Church. 



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ance. I opened the Book, and, turning over its pages, 
from cover to cover, I found them luminous with the 
message; some less bright perhaps, but others glowing 
with an effulgence like that which irradiates the throne 
and makes it to finite vision a blinding light that is inac- 
cessible. My eye was caught and held by such passages 
as these: ''He poured out His soul unto death"; "I 
have loved thee with an everlasting love ' ' ; ' ' Can a woman 
forget her sucking child, that she should not have com- 
passion on the son of her womb ? yea, she may forget, yet 
will I not forget thee ' ' ; ' ' God commendeth His love 
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died 
for us"; " Greater love hath no man than this, that a 
man lay down his life for his friends " That ye, being 
rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend 
with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and 
heighth and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge.' ' Any one of these would do, and 
would more than fill our powers of reverent compre- 
hension. There is another text, chosen to be placarded upon 
the walls at our Centennial Exposition, as a rich epitome 
of the Gospel, that, when the nations should come together 
at that bazaar of civilization and festival of freedom, each 
one might read in his own vernacular, his mother's 
tongue, ' ' God so loved the world, that He gave His only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not 
perish but have everlasting life "; and this indeed would 
admirably serve our purpose. 

As, however, the message is the most glorious truth 
on earth or in heaven, we are not content until we are 
sure that we have found its simplest, sublimest utterance 
as given by inspiration; the greatest truth should have 
the sublimest expression. Longinus, a Greek critic of 
the second Christian century, in a review of the world's 
literature as he knew it, calls to our attention the third 
verse of the first chapter of Genesis, as he read it in 

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ii 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the Greek, "TevioSa <f>G>* kol iyevero," ' 'Light, be, and light 
was"; and he comments appreciatively upon its terse 
expressiveness. But we are concerned to-night with 
the sublimest utterance of the grandest thought ever 
revealed to man. We find it, strange to say, in an anony- 
mous letter believed to have been written by a fisherman, 
and addressed to no particular person. Indeed, how 
appropriate this is; for all individuality would narrow it, 
and all human distinction would degrade it. So it comes 
to us the more directly from the throne and from the mind 
and heart of Him who sits upon it; through the ministry 
of the humble Galilean, the disciple whom Jesus loved. 
Twice within the limits of a single chapter, the fourth of 
his first epistle, in verses eight and sixteen, he declares, 
"God is Love three short words, three single sounds; 
three syllables are all that is needed for the utterance of a 
truth, which no angel has ever fathomed and which 
eternity can never exhaust nor fully display. 

The Scriptures tell us that God is powerful, but never 
that God is power; that God is truthful, but never that 
God is truth; that God is wise, but never that He is 
wisdom; that God is just, but never that He is justice; 
but they do tell us twice that God is Love. 

No man can paint the sun; no human eye can gaze 
upon it without being blinded by its glory. Even when in 
eclipse we must darken the glass through which we dare 
to fix our eyes upon it. Otherwise we must content our- 
selves with mere glimpses at its brilliance. So it must be 
as we essay to-night to enter the Holy of Holies, and stand 
before the Shekinah, the manifested presence, the revealed 
heart of God; glimpses are all that we may hope to get of 
that love which passeth knowledge. We shall take three 
posts of observation from which to catch these glimpses as 
best we may. 

1. We estimate love by the source from which it comes, 
from the character, the nature of the lover. Love is 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



never a despicable thing; in the humblest there is some- 
thing sacred in it. You do not despise the love of your 
dog, your horse, your servant; he that does is unworthy 
to own dog, or horse, or servant; he that does shows 
himself more ignoble than dog, or horse, or servant. The 
humblest that loves is better than the highest that does 
not love. 

Nevertheless we graduate love from the dignity of the 
lover. We rate the affection of a friend, a brother, a 
sister, a wife, a husband higher than that of a dog, a horse 
or a servant. So we put a higher value on the love of 
father and mother, and teacher, and pastor, because of 
their relative or official superiority to us. How pleased 
we should be did we know that the most honorable man, 
the loveliest woman in our community regarded us with a 
tender, affectionate interest. Still more should we appre- 
ciate the fact to be assured that we possess the love of the 
greatest man, the highest dignitary, the most worthy per- 
son on the earth. It pleases us more than this to believe 
that there are those in heaven, now kings and priests 
unto God, our sainted mothers, who feel for us an affection- 
ate regard and are waiting to welcome us home. 

But between the highest angel in heaven and throne 
there is an infinite distance. If Michael, the archangel, 
is a creature, and not, as some conjecture, the Son of God 
Himself, then even he, though the highest of finite beings, 
is infinitely lower than God whom he worships even as do 
we. The love that fills our thoughts and hearts to-night does 
not come from the finite, shallow depths of any created 
spirit, but descends from the inaccessible heights of the 
throne itself, the infinite and eternal Jehovah, ' 'who spake 
and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast; who 
sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and to whom its in- » 
habitants are but as grasshoppers; who stretcheth out the 
heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



dwell in; who taketh up the isles as a very little thing, to 
whom the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are coun- 
ted as the small dust of the balance''; 

"The God that rules on high, 

That thunders when He please, 

That rides upon the stormy sky, 
That manages the seas, 

This awful God is ours, 

Our Father and our love." 

'Tis He, even He, who assures us that He is love, that His 
nature, His very heart, is love. 

II. Another standard by which to estimate the pre- 
ciousness of love is the object on whom it is bestowed. As 
the Father thinks upon the coequal Son, "the effulgence 
of His glory and the very image of His substance," we do 
not wonder that the full tide of His love should flow forth 
in admiring appreciation, though to our finite thinking it 
is infinitely deep beyond our highest conceptions. When 
that divine love passes the infinite barriers and fixes itself 
upon Michael, the archangel, and his companions, pure, 
sinless spirits, that kept their first estate of holiness, we 
can see the fitness of the affection in the moral worthiness 
of its objects. We can understand why that love, radia- 
ting from the throne, bathes with its blessings the spirits 
of the just made perfect, the holy patriarchs and prophets, 
apostles and martyrs, godly men and women, a multitude 
that no man can number, in their robes made white, as 
with golden crowns and palms of victory, they ascribe 
' 'blessing and honor, and glory, and power unto Him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and 
ever." These happy inhabitants of heaven, holy even as 
God is holy, dwelling in the city wherein there shall in no 
wise enter anything that defileth, whose very streets are 
of transparent gold, clear as crystal, ever breathe the at- 
mosphere of love, because it is the air of heaven issuing 
from the heart of God. 



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We do wonder, however, when this love of God, 
native to heaven and specially at home there, should come 
to this earth, this speck in the universe, this workshop of 
Satan, this home of sin. On whom does it rest here ? 
On the innocent infant, nestling in its mother's arms and 
yet unflecked by stain of personal sin? Yes, it blesses 
the babe. On the pure, virtuous woman, born and bred 
within the hallowing shelter of a home, where she has 
been shielded from contact with the vileness to be found 
without? Yes, it blesses the virtuous woman. On the 
stalwart moral hero, who braves the demons of tempta- 
tion and comes forth the triumphant victor, panoplied 
with truth and righteousness? Yes, it blesses the moral 
hero. On the faithful pastor, the sincere preacher of the 
cross, on the godly mother in Israel, on the patient, pray- 
ing teacher in the Sunday School, on the generous giver 
to every cause that is good, on the gentle nurse that 
strokes and bathes the fevered brow through the midnight 
watches, on the hand that feeds and clothes and shelters 
the poor, on the missionary that carries the gospel to tor- 
rid, darkest Africa? Yes, it blesses one and all of these. 

But does it come to the careless, stumbling, back- 
slidden Christian, who has forgotten his first love, who has 
gone back to the fleshpots of Egypt? Yes, God says, ''How 
shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, 
Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set 
thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my 
compassions are kindled together. I will not execute 
the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy 
Ephraim: for I am God and not man, the Holy One in the 
midst of thee." God loves the poor, backslidden, incon- 
sistent Christian, and blesses him with the cheering words: 
"Return unto Me and I will return unto you; I will heal 
your backslidings; I will love you freely; for a small 
moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will 



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I gather thee; in overflowing wrath I hid my face from 
thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I 
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." 

But surely this is as far as the love of God can go. 
On the sinner, the habitual sinner, the willing sinner, the 
unrepentant sinner, the disbelieving sinner, the wicked 
sinner, the depraved, degenerate sinner, the outcast sin- 
ner, we think God pours the vials of His wrath without 
stint and without ceasing. But does He? Jesus Christ is 
the fullest revelation of God, for in Him dwelt all the 
fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. As we read His 
life, we find that there was but one class of persons whom 
he condemned and chastised with scorpion sting of His 
wrath. Read that terrific arraignment in the twenty-third 
chapter of Matthew, that seven times repeated denuncia- 
tion, ' 'Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees — Hypocrites; 
woe unto you, ye blind guides; ye fools and blind; ye 
blind guides ; thou blind Pharisee; ye serpents, ye off- 
spring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of 
hell? " Here we see something of what is meant by "the 
wrath of the Lamb"; and its objects are not the harlots 
and the outcasts, but the self-righteous, hypocritical, 
respectable, official, leading members and officers of the 
church. 

Is the worst man, the worst woman in Staunton here 
in this house of God to-night? I would that you were, 
for I have a message from the God of heaven, from the 
Lord Jesus Christ to you, and through you to every one of 
us. Every good man, who has been blessed with a good 
mother, or sister, or wife, or daughter, knows that women 
as a rule are purer, better than men. Sheltered, protected, 
untried, untempted, with a more delicate, refined, moral 
fibre, woman has retained most of the primeval purity of 
Eden. The more exalted the height the deeper the plunge 
into the abyss below. When woman falls, she sounds the 
depths of depravity. Probably the vilest wretch in Staun- 



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ton is a woman. So it was in Palestine when Jesus was 
here among men. We are told that He did not hold him- 
self aloof from the common people, that He ate with publi- 
cans and sinners, that He allowed the harlot to wash His 
feet with her tears and to wipe them with the hairs of her 
head." 

But there was one person in Palestine in His day who 
was the vilest of the vile. Possibly at first the victim of 
man's treachery: but, yielding to temptation, she fell; and, 
like Satan, when she fell, she did not stop in her headlong 
plunge until she had reached the lowest sink of human 
wickedness. We are told that Mary of Magdala had 
seven devils: seven in the Scriptures is a symbol of 
fullness, and so we know that Mary, the famed harlot of 
Magdala. was tilled with the spirit of the devil, that she 
was a fiend incarnate, who had probably led many a man 
astray and had broken the heart of mothers and of wives. 
We are prone to think that Jesus treated her as we would 
have done ; that such purity as His would not have walked 
in the path which she had polluted with her filthy steps : 
that He would have drawn His vesture close about Him as 
she passed, that He might not be denied by touching the 
hem of her garments. But not so with Jesus. Does the 
doctor refuse to attend upon the patient wrestling with a 
mortal malady? Does the mother tear from her heart the 
fibers of affection for her truant boy and banish his image 
from her memory? Can we doubt the love of Jesus for 
the sinner, for the worst of sinners? Can we. whose sins 
have been forgiven, into whose unlovely and unloving 
hearts the stream of Jesus' love has flown, can we doubt 
His grace to our fellow sinners? Paul felt himself less 
than the least of all saints, nay. the chief of sinners : and 
so. brethren, you and I feel that the love which could 

*It is thought by some that this sinful woman in the house of Simon, the Pharisee, 
was none other than Mary of Bethany : by others, that it was Mary of Magdala ; and still 
others think that she and Mary of Bethany and Mary of Magdala were all one and the 
same person. These are interesting- conjectures. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



come to us, even to us, miserably, utterly, unworthy as 
we know ourselves to be, cannot, will not hesitate to reach 
to any degree of human wickedness. 

We know that the love of Jesus did not shrink; when 
He saw the soul of Mary in the deepest depth of the cess- 
pool of iniquity, putrified, disgusting as it was. He did not 
falter as He plunged His almighty, loving arm into the 
filthy ooze and brought up the immortal soul hidden there, 
and cleansed it with the washing of regeneration and the 
renewing of the Holy Spirit. Henceforth ' 'she loved much, 
for she was much forgiven"; and when the easter morn 
had come and the risen Lord had triumphed over hell and 
the grave, it was to Mary of Magdala that He appeared, 
and to her, not to Peter, nor to John, was given the 
privilege of first heralding the risen Redeemer; and to-day 
Mary, from whom Jesus cast seven devils, is one of the 
crowned queens of heaven, stationed near the throne, 
where her loving and beloved Saviour sits, holding the 
sceptre of universal power. 

Mary, the harlot of Staunton, Jesus bids me say to 
you, He loves you; go and sin no more. Your heart may 
sing, 

"0 Light of light, God of God, for me, 

Across the prison-house of long disgrace, 
Fetter and chain have fallen and left me free, 
Since I have seen His face." 

III. But little time is left for our third point of view. 
After all, the truest criterion for the testing of love is 
what it does, what it gives, what it suffers. In a crowd 
gathered around an unfortunate man and expressing their 
sympathy, one said, ' 1 sympathize with him five dollars 
worth; how much do you ?" A mother's love is measured 
by the sacrifices she willingly makes. So the love of God 
is known by what it gives, by what it suffers. The theme 
is boundless, and we must limit ourselves to the lowest 
and the highest, leaving it to our grateful imaginations to 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



supply what lies between. The least of what God does, 
by means of which He shows His love, is seen in the com- 
mon, the universal experience of us all. The air we breathe, 
the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, 
the house that shelters us; ' 'every good and perfect gift is 
from above and comes down from the Father of lights/ ' 
* 'He opens His hands to satisfy the desire of every living 
thing/' and "gives us richly all things to enjoy." 

"Ten thousand, thousand precious gifts 
Our daily thanks employ; 
Nor is the least a cheerful heart 
That tastes those gifts with joy." 

But these multiplied blessings, great as they are, yet 
are as nothing when compared with God's "unspeakable 
gifts." Men may give millions, as some men are now 
doing, but there is a proof of love that outweighs the 
worlds. The highest test of a woman's love is when she 
gives herself to the man of her choice; and so it is with 
man; and so it is with God. "Greater love hath no man 
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 
"God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we 
were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Yes, Christ laid 
down His life, Christ died for us. Here is the sunshine 
of God's love in its meridian glory, upon which no human 
eye can look to take in all, or more than an infinitesimal 
part of its meaning. Christ died for us, "the just for the 
unjust, that He might bring us to God." We are apt to 
think of this death as physical, rendered excruciating by 
the agonies of crucifixion. Such indeed it was, but this is 
only the shadow, only the background, only the setting, 
only the antechamber of the temple of our Lord's sacrifice 
for us. As Isaiah saw and said, His soul was made an 
offering for sin, He poured out His soul unto death, the 
travails of His soul He should see. As He said, His soul 
was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. The cup which 
He prayed might, if possible, pass from Him, but which 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



He willingly drank to its dregs, was the cup of God's wrath 
and curse due to you and me, the sinners for whom He 
died, for whom His soul died, as He exclaimed, "My God, 
my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" 

"Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a present far too small; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 
Demands my soul, my life, my all." 




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\ 



CHAPTER XIV 

TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WEST- 
MINSTER ASSEMBLY 

ON APRIL 29, 1647, the great Westminster Assembly, 
in session at Westminster Abbey, completed the 
most important part of their valuable work. 
On April 29, 1897, the Presbyterians of Staunton and 
Augusta County met to celebrate the 250th anniversary. 
Elaborate preparations had been made by the two local 
churches. History and Biography, Doctrine and Influence, 
had been assigned to able men for treatment. And as 
session after session was held the hearers found that the 
planning had not been in vain. 

On Thursday evening, April 29, 1897, a large audience 
gathered in the First Presbyterian Church. Rev. Dr. A. 
M. Fraser presided. Rev. H. A. White, of Washington 
and Lee University, was the speaker of the occasion. His 
theme was, "The Political and Ecclesiastical Conditions 
which Led to the Calling of the Westminster Assembly.' ' 
With great power he gathered up the threads unravelled 
from the tangled skein of history from 1543 to 1643, show- 
ing clearly how the irresistible trend of events demanded 
the calling of the Assembly and made its work a necessity. 

4 The Intellectual and Moral Character and Qualifica- 
tions of the Westminster Assembly as Compared with any 
Other Great Church Council" was the subject of the 
address prepared by Rev. T. C. Johnson, D. D., but who 
was unable to be present owing to indisposition. The 
paper was read by Dr. J. M. Wells, of the Second 
Presbyterian Church, of Staunton, Virginia. This was 
followed by an address by Rev. Thornton Whaling, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



D. D., of Lexington; by Mr. Joseph A. Waddell, of 
Staunton, on the ' 'Shorter Catechism/ ' and he by Rev. 
Dr. Finley, on the ' 'Doctrines of Calvinism in Notable 
Revivals of Religion." The evening was spent in a 
reception tendered by the ladies of the First and Second 
churches in the lecture rooms of the First Church. 

On Saturday Rev. F. R. Beattie, D. D., of Louisville 
Theological Seminary, was introduced to the audience by 
Hon. H. St. George Tucker in well-chosen words. Dr. 
Beattie was one of the originators of the movement to 
celebrate this anniversary, and it was fitting that he should 
be heard on this occasion. With true Scotch fire and 
power he treated his subject, ' 'The Influence of the West- 
minster Symbols on Civil and Religious Liberty. ' ' He laid 
down as an established fact that the four communities 
where civil liberty had its most perfect growth— Switzer- 
land, Holland, Great Britain, and America— were Calvin- 
istic Presbyterian at the time that civil liberty was in its 
largest measure acquired, and then he gave the reasons 
why Calvinistic Presbyterianism always produced civil and 
religious liberty. 

On Saturday a poem was read by Rev. Mr. Lapsley, of 
Bethel, upon "the Covenanters, or the First Generation 
Raised on the Shorter Catechism, ' 9 beautifully recounting 
the suffering and heroism of those Godly people. 

"The Catholic Spirit of the Presbyterian Church' 9 was 
the subject of an address by Maj. T. J. Kirkpatrick, of 
Lynchburg. 

Maj. Jed. Hotchkiss made an entertaining talk on the 
"Influence of the Westminster Assembly on Education," 
followed by Dr. Cocke, of Waynesboro, on "Calvanism in 
Foreign Missions." 

The afternoon services on Sunday were a joint meet- 
ing of the Presbyterian Sunday Schools of Augusta county, 
over which Rev. J. E. Booker presided. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Then the Sunday School worker was truly in his 
element, and probably never looked into the faces of so 
many children at one time before. The various schools 
from over the county were grouped in blocks around the 
speaker's stand, and back of these sat the visitors. Mr. 
Booker's own church — Hebron— sent the largest out-of- 
town delegation, the solid appearance of which created 
much favorable comment. Of course, the feature of the 
evening was the address to the children by Rev. Jas. P. 
Smith, D. D., of the Central Presbyterian, and the dis- 
tribution by him of thirteen hundred certificates. These 
certificates were presented through the Sunday School 
Superintendents to every one in their congregations 
who had at any time recited perfectly the shorter 
catechism. 

Sunday was the great day of the meeting. The Pres- 
byterian churches of the County and City were closed, and 
the great gathering met in Columbian Hall, filling it with 
over 2,000 souls long before the hour for morning service, 
the two local churches furnishing the choir. The visiting 
ministers who took part in the exercises were Thornton 
Whaling, D. D., R. A. Lapsley, A. H. Hamilton, and H. 
A. Young. Rev. Dr. G. B. Strickler, of Union Theological 
Seminary, preached the sermon on ' 'Presbyterian Doc- 
trines.' 9 

At 8 o'clock p. m. Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge,of Richmond, 
made the closing address, saying that the Presbyterian 
structure had been builded by the other speakers that pre- 
ceded him, brick by brick, and now all that remained 
for him was to place the capstone, which he did most 
ably with the subject, "The Ethical Results of a Belief in 
Calvinism as Shown in the Character of Men and Com- 
munities." 

The great meeting ended, a strength to the faith of its 
own people and a benediction to the community. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



All the addresses made on the occasion of this celebra- 
tion that could be obtained are given in the following 
pages : 

The address of Rev. Thos. Cary Johnson, D. D., of 
Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, was 
as follows: 

THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER AND QUALIFICATIONS OF 
THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY AS COMPARED WITH ANY 
OTHER GREAT CHURCH COUNCIL 

The Westminster Assembly has been held in relatively low 
esteem in many quarters of Protestant Christendom. Even Presby- 
terian people do not prevalently hold the Assembly in that high honor 
of which it is deserving. Strange to say, while holding the work of 
this body in extraordinary veneration, they give to the workmen a 
very subordinate place in their regard. 

This want of appreciation of the Assembly may be partially ex- 
plained by a consideration of the following facts : Most of the Church 
histories of the world have been written by German Scholars. That 
" Germany is the school-mistress of the world " is the proud boast of 
the scholars of that land. And this school-mistress was for a long 
time ignorant of English Church History. German historians, until 
the middle of our century, paid little attention to the history of the 
church in Great Britain. It was perfectly natural for the great 
theologian and philologist. Dr. Winer, of Leipsic, to barely mention the 
Westminster Confession in his Symbolics, prior to 1825.* It was 
perfectly natural that H. A. Niemyer, who issued his "Collection of 
Reformed Confessions " so late as 1840, should omit the Westminster 
Standards, in his first edition. Germans knew little of the struggles 
and achievements of Christianity in England. They taught us fully 
about the church of Constantine's day; fully about the Council of 
Chalcedon and the Council of Trent. They taught us next to nothing 
about the great Assembly into whose labors we have entered. 

Again our minds have been prejudiced against the body that 
constructed our Standards, by the works of hostile or contemptious 
English historians. We may not have known this, but there is no 
room for reasonable doubt that it is true. 

Clarendon, like his masters, the Stuarts, hated Presbyterianism. 
He regarded it as a religion of plebeian origin. He thought it was 
unfit for gentlemen. He naturally underrated the Assembly. He 

*Compare Schaff's Creeds, Vol. I p. 728. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



says in his "History of the Rebellion," Vol. I p. 827: "Of about 
one hundred and twenty of which that Assembly was to consist * * 
a very few reverend and worthy persons were inserted, yet of the 
whole number they were not above twenty who were not declared 
and avowed enemies of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of 
England; some were infamous in their lives and conversations, and 
most of them were of very mean parts in learning, if not of scanda- 
lous ignorance; and of no other reputation but of malice to the Church 
of England; so that that convention hath not since produced anything, 
that might not then reasonably have been expected of it." These 
charges were utterly false; but they have percolated through liter- 
ature; and they may have lowered your own conceptions of the body 
thus caricatured and slandered. 

Even John Milton must needs asperse this Assembly, as "A cer- 
tain number of divines neither chosen by any rule or custom ecclesias- 
tical, nor eminent for either piety or knowledge above others left out; 
only as each member of parliament in his private fancy thought fit, so 
elected one by one." Men are influenced by these aspersions, forget- 
ting that Milton's antagonism, in considerable part, was born of the 
Assembly's opposition to his lax views on divorce into which he had 
been provoked by his unhappy marriage. 

Hume treats the Westminster Assembly as a fit subject for 
detraction and contempt. Lingard, in his widely read history of Eng- 
land, betrays not only the hostility to be expected in a Roman Catho- 
lic against such an assembly but little power to appreciate the intel- 
lectual and moral character of the body of which he says: "In the 
month of June, 1643, one hundred and twenty individuals selected by 
the Lords and Commons under the denomination of pious, godly and 
judicious divines were summoned to meet at Westminster."* Knight 
who is sometimes ranked next to Mr. John Richard Green among 
popular English historians, ignores the Westminster Assembly. 
Hardly more can be said of Mr. Green himself in his matchless "Short 
History of the English People." Craik and McFarlane, in their great 
pictorial history, present in no adequate way the real importance of 
the great Assembly. But why go further in this review? Scores of 
books, widely read which should treat of the Assembly whose anni- 
versary we now celebrate, mistreat it or ignore its very existence. 
It could hardly be otherwise than that the Westminister Assembly 
should be generally held in too small esteem. 

Again, through carelessness men have imputed some of the intole- 
rant and bigoted enactments of the Long Parliament to the Assembly. 

*Lingard's History of England, Vol. I p. 129. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



They have confused the two bodies, one with the other; and accord- 
ingly have laid to the charge of the Assembly much of which it was 
altogether blameless. 

Finally, when men are told that this body of divines borrowed 
largely from theologians and creed-makers before them; when they 
learn that the Assembly made a free use of the Irish Articles, various 
Continental Symbols and the old Ecumenical creeds, they often jump to 
the conclusion that there was no originality in the body, and no ex- 
traordinary greatness. And when they look over the Assembly for 
some great denominating personality in it, like Agustine's. or Luther's, 
or Calvin's, and find no man so lifted above his fellows; some on that 
account hold the body in light esteem. 

But let us stop this speculation as to why the Westminster Assem- 
bly of Divines has not received its due mead of honor. We do not 
hesitate to affirm that it was intellectually and morally one of the 
noblest ecclesiastical bodies known in history. 

We concede that in that Assembly there was no dominating per- 
sonality like that of Luther, or Calvin or Agustine. But we rejoice 
to think that if one of those great men had been a member of that 
Assembly he would have appeared less superior there. There was 
too much talent in the body for any one man to assume such domi- 
nancy. The Father of the German Reformation had not appeared so 
large in the company of such fellows. On the other hand, more than 
one member of the Assembly might under suitable circumstances 
have played the role of a great reformer. There is a deal of truth as 
well as beauty in those words so often quoted from Gray's Elegy : 

"Some mute, inglorious Milton here may lie, 
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood!' 

In spite of all their gifts, their places in history have contributed to 
the reputation of Augustine, Luther and Calvin. There were men in 
this Assembly of extraordinary power, intellectual and moral. 

We concede also that the Westminster divines borrowed largely 
from existing creeds and systems; and we admire them greatly for 
doing so. The greatest theologians since the dawn of the Reforma- 
tion have done the same. The teaching of John Calvin has an 
ecumenical element. His doctrines concerning the Trinity and his 
Christology are those of the old ecumenical councils. His teaching has 
also an Augustinian element. His doctrines of Anthropology and Grace 
and Predestination are substantially Augustinian. Calvin's teaching, 
again, has an Anselmic element. His doctrine of the atonement is 
that of Anselm, as modified by Thomas Aquinas. And so by further 
analysis we might show that in his immortal Institutes Calvin put very 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



little that had not been taught by some other servant of God standing 
between him and the Apostolic Age. Calvin's great merit was in 
rejecting error, discerning truth, and throwing the Bible truth of 
which the Church had become thoroughly conscious into the completest 
system ever framed by the intellect of man. Now it is precisely this 
kind of work in which the Westminster Assembly excelled. It framed 
the most logical and complete, as well as the most Biblical set of Stan- 
dards ever framed by any body in Christendom. And both the Assembly 
and Calvin showed their wisdom in accepting the correct results of 
the labors of their predecessors. One aim in creed-making is clear 
and comprehensive statement of Scripture teaching. It was the part 
of a genius, like John Calvin, to accept the statement on the Trinity 
which the Church under the blessing of God had been able to make 
after a struggle of three hundred years; and to accept the Christology 
which the Church evolved from the Scriptures after a still more pro- 
tracted struggle. It was still more becoming in a creed-making body 
like the Westminster, to adopt the very phraseology of old creeds so 
far as they were correct and sufficiently comprehensive. For every 
word in those old creeds had been chosen for a purpose. Every word 
stood as a barrier against some particular error. Every word was 
the result of conflict; and every word was a monument of victory. 
When the Westminster Assembly would answer the question 21 in the 
Shorter Catechism: "Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?" It did 
well to answer as the Council of Chalcedon had done in 45 L A. D. : 
"The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth 
to be, God and man, in two distinct natures and one person forever." 
It could see that the answer was an admirable statement of the Bible 
teaching, and it knew that every word in the Chalcedon statement 
was a tried word. 

The body which in such circumstances would abandon a tried 
phraseology would be very foolish. It is a mark of great worth in 
this Assembly that it preserved that which was of real worth in the 
earlier work of the Church; that its aim was not the reputation for 
originality; but the systematic and correct statement of the truth of 
God concerning all matters of doctrine, government and worship in 
His church. 

But it should be remarked further in this connection : Not only is 
the splendidly coherent system of truth in these standards proof of the 
great ability of the body for the very purpose for which it was called; 
but there is not wanting evidence of real originality. The Covenant 
Theology which finds expression in the Assembly's work seems to 
have been English, not Dutch in its origin. As the Reformation in 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



several Continental countries was spontaneous in each, so Covenant 
Theology sprang up about the same time in the Netherlands and in 
England. That in England seems to have been indigenous in its 
origin. The Westminster Assembly moulded this theology in its own 
way and in a masterly manner. Again, in the sphere of polity the 
Assembly did work of original interpretation. 

We may concede that the Assembly believed in the propriety of a 
State establishment; and in oppressive measures on the part of the 
State to secure uniformity. But there was no considerable church in 
that age which did not believe and practice the same when it had the 
power. The Independent bodies in England about this time are some- 
times said to have been ahead of the church at large in this partic- 
ular; but unfortunately for that representation, as soon as those very 
Independents reached a controlling civil position and thus had an 
opportunity to illustrate in a practical way their views of religious 
liberty, they lost their desire to do so. While suffering for their own 
faith they naturally betook themselves " to the ramparts of sound 
principles"; but when in the providence of God they passed from an 
oppressed and suffering condition to a dominant position, they left 
their sound principles behind. 

Full toleration and religious liberty were to come decades later. 
The Westminster Assembly was simply like the whole rest of 
Christendom in this particular, an individual here and there excepted. 

Once more, we admit that the Westminster Assembly of Divines 
was called by the Parliament; that it was not called in any formal 
way by the Church, but by the State. It was necessarily so. There 
was no organized Church in England at the time to call such a council. 
The Convocation could not call it. There was no Convocation. The 
hierarchical form of Church government had been abolished months 
before the calling of the Assembly. There was no form of Church 
government common to the English churches at this time. There was 
a Church but no general organization. The government claimed the 
right to exercise its accustomed headship over the Church; and the 
people expected it. If any council was to be held, it was natural and, 
in the circumstances, necessary that the government should call the 
body. 

We deplore the fact that the Assembly did thus depend for its 
very existence on an Erastian act; but neither this fact nor the fact 
that it wanted somewhat of a true and full conception of religious 
liberty as the inalienable right of man can obscure the splendor of the 
intellectual and moral character of the body. 

In treating thus far of objections alleged against the Assembly, 
we have incidentally brought out certain proofs of its moral and 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



intellectual greatness. If the tree is known by its fruits, if a body 
can be known by its works, if this body may be judged by the Stand- 
ards it produced, the Westminster Assembly was a notable body 
intellectually and morally. Let us now address ourselves directly to 
other evidences of its greatness. We observe: 

First. The kingdom of England has had, perhaps, in no other 
period of its long history such resources out of which to draw an 
Assembly mentally and morally great as at the time of the West- 
minster Assembly. 

Puritanism of the noblest type had long been doing its work of 
making great men. Men may speak in dispraise of Puritanism, after 
the Puritans had become a political party. There were then many in 
the party who were not of it. They had caught the phraseology of 
the Puritans. They had put on the external garb of the Puritans; but 
they were not Puritans. Genuine Puritanism was a noble movement. 
It was of the very essence of Puritanism that man should regard him- 
self as the subject of the Sovereign Jehovah of Hosts. As the 
Puritans saw matters, God had put men into the earth, had given to 
every man his work, and expected every man to do his duty. These 
two great ideas of the sovereignity of God and the responsibility of 
man, whose spread, history shows to be productive of the largest 
manhood, the Puritans had been teaching, and preaching, and living 
in England for about a century. They had lived their Puritanism too, 
in the midst of trying circumstances. They had grown in allegiance 
to their great principles amidst the merciless persecution of Laud. 
Thus stuff of the best quality had been prepared out of which an 
assembly of unusual character might be called. And if literary 
remains prove anything, they prove that the Puritan scholarship of 
the age of the Assembly lends a glory to the whole history of the 
English church. This very age was the age of Baxter, and of Owen, 
and of Howe, and a host of other great names. It was an age too of 
brilliant preachers. In fact, in the history of the London pulpit, the 
age of the Assembly is one of the great ages. The time was one of 
great enterprises. The common mind was aroused. Great minds 
were employing themselves in divers ways. The result was great 
statesmen like Pym, and Hampden, and Cromwell; great lawyers like 
Selden; great writers like Milton; and above all, because religion 
received universal and intense attention, great theologians. There 
can be no question, therefore, that it was possible to summon an 
assembly of extraordinary merit. 

Second. The Parliament aimed to make a wise choice of men for 
the great work of the Assembly. The Parliament saw that a great 
work should be done and it tried to choose fit men to do it. 



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In the ' 'Grand Remonstrance, ' ' which it prepared in the fall and 
early winter of 1641, the Parliament declared that it desired that some 
changes should be made in the government of the church and its wor- 
ship, "and that there might be a general synod of the most grave, 
pious, learned, and judicious divines of their Island, assisted by some 
from foreign parts professing the same religion, to consider all things 
necessary for the peace, and good government of the church."* 

After obtaining a favorable expression on the part of the King, 
the Parliament in the spring of 1642, appointed the commissioners. 
Dr. Alexander F. Mitchell, the foremost authority on the Westminster 
Assembly says: 'The general opinion has been that the divines were 
recommended by the members of Parliament representing each county 
and the boroughs within it (the House in one or two instances how- 
ever, insisting that a vote be taken on the names proposed) and the 
balance of evidence seems to me to favor that opinion."! But there 
is evidence that the nominations were made with care and perhaps 
with the advice of one or more of the accomplished divines of the day. 
Two commissioners were appointed for each English shire, two for 
each of the universities, Oxford and Cambridge, one for each county 
in Wales, four for the city of London, and some others. 

Had the King given his consent the Assembly would have met in 
July, 1642. But the King was now openly opposed. Finally in June, 
1643, an ordinance for calling the Assembly was passed by the Parlia- 
ment on its own authority. 

"This ordinance declares that the purpose of the Assembly was to 
settle the government and liturgy of the Church of England, to vin- 
dicate and clear the doctrines of that church from false aspersions and 
interpretations in a way most agreeable to the word of God and most 
apt to procure and preserve the peace of the church at home, and a 
nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other Reformed 
churches abroad. "% 

We have very ample evidence that this very able body of men, 
the Long Parliament— a body, too in spite of grave faults very 
conscientious, and earnest and enlightened— a body away above the 
ordinary Parliament— we have ample evidence, I say, that this body 
both conceived the work to be done by the Assembly as of vast impor- 
tance, and tried to select a body of men fit to do the work. 

Third. The body chosen is shown to have been of extraordinary 
intellectual and moral worth by contemporary and subsequent testimony. 

Old Richard Baxter had all the qualifications needed for credible 

* Mitchell: The Westminster Assembly, page 105. 
t Mitchell: The Westminster Assembly, page 108. 
X Mitchell: Westminster Assembly, pp. Ill, 112. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



witness-bearing about the Westminster Assembly. He had the 
natural ability to acquire the truth about it. He had the amplest 
opportunity to inform himself on the subject. He is conceded to have 
been uncommonly free from prejudice and honest and godly. No 
better witness could be desired, and he says of the Assembly at West- 
minster: "The divines there congregated, were men of eminent 
learning, godliness, ministerial abilities and fidelity, and being not 
worthy of being one of them myself, I may the more freely speak 
that truth which I know, even in the face of malice and envy, that so 
far as I am able to judge by the information of all history * * * * 
the Christian world since the days of the Apostles had never a synod 
of more excellent divines."* Dr. Stroughton says: "The West- 
minster divines had learning, Scriptural, patristic, scholastic and 
modern enough and to spare, all solid and substantial and ready for 
use. They had a clear, firm grasp of evangelical truths. The 
godliness of the men is proved by the spirit of their writings and 
by the history of their lives. Their talents and attainments, even 
Milton does not attempt to deny." Mr. Hallam, in whom the desire 
to be just is a marked characteristic, said of the Assembly: "They 
were perhaps equal in learning, good sense, and other merits to any 
Lower House of Convocation that ever made a figure in England." 
There is good reason for supposing that Mr. Hallam' s testimony had 
been more nearly correct if he had asserted that the Assembly was 
superior to any Lower House of Convocation that ever cut a figure in 
England. The lay element in the Assembly — statesmen and scholars 
—and the extraordinary men from Scotland who sat as corresponding 
members helped to lift it above any Lower House of Convocation, 
perhaps. But taking Mr. Hallam's estimate as correct, the West- 
minster Assembly appears as a great body; for the great Church of 
England in all its years can show no Lower House superior to it; and 
the Lower House of Convocation is almost always, in enlightened 
ages, superior to the Upper House just as the House of Parliament is 
almost always superior to the House of Lords. 

General von Rudloff, who has written the best account of the 
Assembly in the German language, according to Dr. Phillip Schaff, 
says, "A more zealous, intelligent and learned body of divines seldom 
ever met in Christendom." The great German- American prince of 
church historians, Schaff, says: "The Westminster Assembly forms 
the most important chapter in the ecclesiastical history of England 
during the seventeenth century. Whether we look at the extent or 
ability of its labors, or upon its influence upon future generations, it 
stands first among protestant councils." Dr. Charles A. Briggs, who 

* Quoted in Schaff' s Creeds, I p. 729, from Baxter's " Life and Times " I p. 73. 



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has done good historical work on the Westminster Assembly, and who 
will probably not be accused by any one of us of over-attachment to 
the body says: "Looking at the Westminster Assembly as a whole it 
is safe to say that there never was a body of divines who labored 
more conscientiously, carefully and faithfully, produced more impor- 
tant documents, or a richer theological literature than the remarka- 
bly learned, able and pious body who sat for so many trying years in 
the Jerusalem Chamber of the Westminster Abbey."* 

But time fails us, we cannot continue to multiply these testi- 
monies to the mental and moral worth of the Westminster Assembly. 

Hear now from the records of the Assembly itself an extraordinary 
proof of at least the moral greatness of the Assembly. Every member 
of the Assembly was required to take the following vow, which was 
read in the Assembly every Monday morning" : I do seriously promise 
and vow in the presence of Almighty God, that in this Assembly where- 
of I am a member, I will maintain nothing in a point of doctrine but 
what I believe to be most agreeable to the Word of God; nor in point 
of discipline but what may make most for God's glory and the peace 
and good of the Church." This vow was required by the Parliament, 
it is true, but probably was suggested to the Parliament by the 
divines, themselves; and was received as an injunction from Parliament 
with entire satisfaction by the Assembly. 

Now, we appeal to the hearer, does not this recognition of man's 
liability to continue debate after the scripture teaching has been made 
plain, implied in the form of this vow, speak both for the wisdom and 
goodness of the Assembly? Disputants are apt to argue a poor cause 
after the strength of the opposite cause has been made evidently 
impregnable, out of hatred of acknowledging defeat, out of pride of 
consistency, out of a dozen unworthy motives. This vow manfully 
recognizes the fact, and obligates the members in a most solemn 
way to withstand the tendency. It says, I am not in this Assembly 
to consider my reputation, but God's truth, God's word, God's glory, 
and the peace and reputation of God's Church. 

Consult the past records of these men, too, and note the fact that 
not a few of them have felt in their own persons and fortunes the bit- 
terness of persecution. When we look back on the Council of Nicea, 
325, the martyr element in that body lends a sort of glory to the whole 
body. We see men there ready to suffer unto death for the testimony 
of Jesus — men who bore in their bodies the marks of Christ from the 
Diocletian persecution— "Paphnutius, of the Upper Thebaid; Potamon, 
of Heraclea, whose right eye had been put out; and Paul, of Neo- 

* Presbyterian Review, vol. — p. 136. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Caesarea, who had been tortured with red hot irons under Licinius, and 
crippled in both his hands.'* These men had the courage of their con- 
victions. The martyr element of the Nicene Council gives an increment 
of dignity to the Council as a whole. But the martyr element in the 
Westminster Assembly was far larger than that in the Nicene Assembly. 
The Westminster was predominantly a martyr Assembly. It is the testi- 
mony of the ablest historians of the great body that not a few of its 
members had been honored to suffer on account of the truths to 
which they clung, and that "many of them had the courage afterwards 
to brave suffering, ignominy, and penury rather than renounce their 
creed and their views of Church polity and discipline, 1 ' and further 
that "they may be said by the very act of their meeting, to have put 
their livings, if not their lives, in jeopardy"; and so to have given of 
the true spirit of witnesses to Jesus, of heroic type. 

We may add that a study of the period shows that the Assembly 
was so constructed as to include all the learning of the time which 
could be conceivably applied in the work to which the body was 
destined save that in the extreme High Church party. It was not 
designed to include all the learned men, of course, but all the learning. 
The three most learned men in the British Isles were appointed 
members. Two of them became active members. The third did not 
become a member; but his work was freely used in the construction of 
our Confession. So that though absent, his great personality was yet 
powerful in the Assembly. And about one-third of the active, working 
members of the Assembly are admitted, even by those who depreciate 
the body, to have been men of special eminence. They were scholars, 
men of talent, of constructive, and creative power in literature. 
Many of the ablest works of the age come from their pens. 

Can any one with the testimonies here given to the intellectual 
and moral excellence of the Assembly regarded as a whole, doubt as 
to its very superior character ? We believe that these testimonies 
alone are sufficient to show that the Assembly was worthy of the 
British people, worthy of Puritan Britain, in its purest and highest 
days. 

Fourth. Let us confirm ourselves further in the favorable 
impression which we have of the Assembly by considering for a little 
time the several parties into which the Assembly was divided, and 
some of the more prominent leaders of the parties severally. 

Not all who were requested to become members of the Assembly 
did so. The Assembly was designed to consist of 151 members in all 
— one hundred and twenty-one divines, ten Lords and twenty Com- 
moners. Among the appointees were in fair proportions, moderate 



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Episcopalians, Erastians, Independents, and Presbyterians. The 
party of Laud was naturally not desired in the Assembly, nor would 
it have appeared had it been desired. For it was utterly hostile to 
Puritanism; and irreconcilably opposed to all compromise with 
Puritanism. But other parties were fairly represented. 

Dr. Mitchell says "that almost all the clerical members named by 
the Parliament were in Episcopal orders. Most of them graduates in 
Arts, and not a few of them graduates in Divinity, either of Oxford 
or Cambridge. Three or four were bishops, and five of them after- 
wards rose to be so, and several others were known to be favorable to 
the continuance of Episcopacy and a liturgy, and some of them to side 
with the King rather than with Parliament. Many were known to 
favor Presbytery. A place was found among the members for some 
of the most prominent ministers of the French Church in England, for 
one of Dutch or German descent, for two or three Irishmen, and for 
some who, to avoid the persecution of Laud, had left their native land 
for a time and acted as pastors to the congregations of English exiles 
and merchants in Holland. Invitations to send some commissioners 
were addressed to the Church of Scotland, and it is said also, to the 
Congregational churches of New England."* And this is a correct 
representation of the ecclesiastical complexion of the body. It thus 
appears that there were four distinct elements among the appointees, 
viz.: Moderate Episcopalians, Erastians, Independents, and Pres- 
byterians. 

The Episcopalian Element included the names of three bishops 
and five doctors of divinity. One of the bishops was Archbishop 
Usher, one of the three most learned men appointed, and indeed of all 
Great Britain of the time. Usher did not attend. At any rate there 
is no good evidence that he attended even once. But he was held in 
the highest honor by the Assembly; and his work embodied in the 
Irish Articles was much used by the divines at Westminster in the 
construction of their Standards. Of the other Episcopal appointees 
only one or two attended, and they exercised no influence in deter- 
mining the course of the Assembly. 

The Erastians, who maintained the ecclesiastical supremacy of 
the civil government in all matters of discipline; and who made the 
Church a department of the State; who held that clergymen were 
teachers only and not rulers; and that the power of the keys belonged 
to the civil magistrate; the Erastians who, out of fear of priestly 
tyranny, would have set up and maintained a civil tyranny in matters 
spiritual, constituted a small but powerful party in the Assembly. 

* Mitchell : The Westminster Assembly, pp. 116, 117. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



They were Selden— a man learned in the law, in theology, and in 
Hebrew lore — accounted one of the three most learned men of his 
time in the British Isles— and Lightfoot and Coleman, who were also 
distinguished for Hebrew learning, and the lawyers generally among 
the lay assessors in the Assembly. 

The Independents, who maintained congregational independency, 
that a local congregation is not subject to the jurisdiction of Presby- 
teries or Synods, and that it has a right to ordain its own ministers, 
wer ; e alsoja small element in the Assembly. The Independents were 
at most not more than a dozen, but four or five of them were strong 
men (particularly Dr. Thomas Goodwin and the Rev. Phillip Nye). 
They were not only men of ability and learning, but of great strength 
of character. They had learned to love deeply their preferred form 
of polity while suffering for it during the persecution under Laud. 
They made as able a defense of it as could, perhaps, be given to-day. 
There seems to be some evidences indeed, that Nye was not above 
political measures in the effort to accomplish what he believed to be 
good ends; and that he pursued indirection more than once in his 
battle against the Presbyterians. But in this respect he was beneath 
his party. The Independents in the Assembly, as a body, have a high 
moral record. 

The party of independents advocated religious toleration. The 
Independent party at large, as we have already remarked, gets 
a great deal of credit for its advanced views on the subject of religious 
toleration and religious liberty. And it deserved some credit; but not 
so much as it gets. We repeat: The oppressed party often betakes 
itself to a correct position. Christians, prior to the time of Constantine 
the Great, pleaded for universal toleration as right and proper. But they 
forgot the propriety of universal toleration once Christianity had be- 
come dominant in the empire. Under oppression they had seen the truth; 
prosperous, they forgot it. This history has repeated itself over and 
over. While under oppression in England Independency saw the 
propriety of toleration; but when the party became supreme, as a 
party it ceased to act on the principle, both in England and in New 
England. The tolerance of the Independents and the intolerance of 
the Presbyterians in the country at large and in the Westminster 
Assembly have been misunderstood and misrepresented. There was 
really little essential difference between Independents and other 
denominations on this subject. Christendom was to wait for some 
time yet before any considerable body of Christians should maintain 
the tenet of toleration while having an opportunity to grant toler- 
ation to others on a large scale. Presbyterians indeed, had illustrated 
a partial toleration prior to this time. The Dutch Presbyterians had 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



furnished an asylum to these very Independents, and had even granted 
to them the use of their own church buildings to worship in. This is 
but one instance of many of the kind in the history of Continental 
Presbyterianism prior to 1640. And this history was paralleled in the 
British Isles. But it is true that Presbyterians in the middle of the 
seventeenth century believed in the propriety of a state religion, and 
were thus logically shut up to intolerance, save by way of exception. 
We repeat, however, that if Independents as a body entertained other 
views it was while they were in no position to determine what the 
form of the state religion should be. 

The Presbyterian Element was the great element in the 
Assembly. They formed the majority at first and grew as the 
Assembly advanced. This party held to the original identity of 
Presbyters and Bishops, and that the church ought to govern itself 
by representative courts made up of teaching and non-teaching elders. 
It was on these subjects that the greatest debates took place, and 
that the great powers artd learning of the Assembly were most ex- 
haustively displayed. Moderate Calvinism was so general in the 
Assembly that it was comparatively easy to reach agreement in the 
statement of doctrines, while the divergent beliefs on the proper 
polity of the Church made it immensely difficult to agree on the funda- 
mental principles of polity. Among the Presbyterians there were two 
parties, one holding the so-called Jure Humano theory of Presby- 
terianism— the theory that Presbyterianism is simply the best form 
of government; but to be adopted or not according to the preferences 
of God's people; the other party holding the Jure Dwino theory, the 
theory that Presbyterianism is the form of Church government ex- 
pressly established and commanded by Christ. This latter theory 
triumphed substantially. 

The leaders of the Presbyterians were Messers. Twisse, Gataker, 
Reynolds, Palmer, Thomas Young, Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, 
Matthew Newcomen, and William Spurstow and others, and the 
Scotch commissioners who were joined to the Assembly as corre- 
sponding members after the adoption in England of the Solemn League 
and Covenant. 

Dr. William Twisse, the Prolocutor, or Moderator, of the 
Assembly, was a man "full of learning and speculative genius. " "He 
was distinguished by his writings against the Armenians, particularly 
against the Jesuits:*' Bishop Hall, himself a royalist and strong 
defender of the hierarchy, speaks of Dr. Twisse as "a man so eminent 
in school divinity that the Jesuits had shrunk under his strength." 
Thomas Fuller says, "his plain preaching was good, solid disputing 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



better, pious living best of all good. ' ' Four folio volumes and one 
quarto attest at once his industry and ability, learning and godliness. 

Thomas Gataker, the divine and critic, was reputed to be the most 
learned man in England after Usher and Selden. He was not only a 
great Hebrew scholar; but in his real insight into New Testament 
Greek surpassed every other Englishmen of his day. His religious 
books were numerous, including "English Annotations upon Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, and Lamentations." He put forth also valuable critical 
works among which was the edition of Marcus Antonius, which Hal- 
lam says, "was the earliest edition of any classical writer published in 
England with original annotations." He was offered the Mastership 
of Trinity College Cambridge; and refused it. 

Dr. Edward Reynolds, was a divine, "eloquent, learned and cau- 
tious," one of the most attractive and influential members of the 
Assembly; and some times spoken of as "the pride and glory of the 
Assembly," though without sufficient warrant. 

Herbert Palmer, "gracious little Palmer" as Bailie saw him, 
was a devout man, the best catechist, perhaps, in England, a scholarly 
and powerful preacher with scruples at first about the divine right of 
ruling elders, but coming over bravely to the support of Presbyterianism 
in the end. He was made master of Queens College, Cambridge, in 
1644. 

Stephen Marshall, was characterized by one of his enemies as 
the "Geneva Bull, a factious and rebellious divine," but he was the 
greatest preacher and the most popular speaker of his times; the most 
influential member of the Assembly in ecclesiastical affairs, a great 
favorite in the Assembly and ' 'their trumphet by whom they sounded 
their solemn fasts." 

Edmund Calamy was a popular preacher. He was the first 
openly to avow and defend the Presbyterian government before a 
committee of Parliament. He was active in the restoration of the 
Stuarts, but impervious to all temptations to enter the Episcopal fold, 
the re-establishment of which followed upon the Restoration. 

Thomas Young was the Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, a 
Scotchman by birth and an able protagonist for Presbyterianism. 

But we cannot go on with this list of English worthies. We cannot 
speak of Seaman, the orientalist, " the man of profound judgment in 
matters of controversal divinity, the invincible disputant, ' ' nor of 
Herle, nor of Dr. Cornelius Burgess, nor others, clever College 
Professors, and authors whose published works show their scholarship 
and ability. 

The Scotch Commissioners were a great power in the Assembly. 
They did not vote. But like Athanasius at Nicea, they swayed the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



voting members by their intellectual and moral power. We cannot 
speak particularly of the lay commissioners from Scotland, though 
they included the Marquis of Argyle, who afterwards proved his 
loyalty to the Scotch Church by suffering death for her; and that great 
lawyer, and devout Christian, Sir Archibald Johnstone, of Warris- 
tone. Nor shall we speak of Samuel Rutherford and Robert 
Bailie, worthy professors of Divinity though they were as well eloquent 
and godly preachers. But of Henderson and Gillespie we must a 
word. 

Alexander Henderson is to be put into the company of Knox, 
Melville, and Chalmers. He was one of the very greatest of Scotch 
ecclesiastics. Hardly one of these other men had such a universal 
range of influence in his own country and in England. He was 
remarkable for tact, statesmanship, and patriotism as well as for 
conscientious devotion to the principles of the Reformed religion and 
the Presbyterian polity. He had in his mature manhood given up 
Episcopacy for Presbytery. He had soon afterwards opposed "the 
five articles " in the Perth Assembly, 1618; his hand had been one of 
the most forceful in framing the National League of 1638. He was 
the Moderator of the General Assembly which was convened later in the 
same year — that Assembly which continued its sessions after the royal 
commissioner had dissolved it; and which "condemned the spurious 
Assemblies from 1606 to 1618, as well as the Service book;" and excom- 
municated eight of the bishops and deposed the other six, and 
prohibited Episcopacy, and the Articles of Perth." He was appointed 
on several commissions to treat with Charles I. And when at length 
hope of pacification between Charles and the English Parliament had 
been exhausted, and the Puritans of England looked to Scotland for 
help, Alexander Henderson drafted the Solemn League and Covenant 
which was adopted in both countries. " My researches, " says Pro- 
fessor Masson, "have more and more convinced me, that Henderson 
was, all in all, one of the ablest and best men of his age in Britain, 
and the greatest, wisest, and most liberal of the Scottish Presby- 
terians. They had all to consult him; in every strait and conflict he 
had to be appealed to, and came in at the last as the man of super- 
eminent composure, comprehensiveness and breadth of brow. Although 
Scottish Presbyterian rule was that no churchman should have author- 
ity in state affairs it had to be practically waived in his case; he was 
a Cabinet minister without office."* 

Such a man, of course, was bound to have immense influence even 
in the Westminister Assembly. 



*Life of Milton, Vol. Ill p. 16. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



George Gillespie entered the Assembly at the age of thirty-one 
years, "the youngest and yet one of the brightest stars," the prince of 
debaters and a man of learning. He had in his twenty-fourth year 
attracted much attention by his work entitled, "The English Popish 
Ceremonies Obtruded on the Church of Scotland," this had been 
followed four years later (1641) by a vindication of the government of 
the Church of Scotland against Independents. His ablest work was 
to be published in 1646, a vindication of Jure Divino Presbyterianism 
against Erastianism. He was thus fitted for his great debates against 
Independency and Erastianism. He was furnished as well as able and 
skillful. There is a Scotch tradition that he once made the great Sel- 
den reel and say: "That young man by his single speech has swept 
away the labors of ten years of my life." This may be patriotic 
exaggeration, but it is a historical fact that Selden never made any 
attempt to answer Gillespie's demolition of his Erastian theory, 
while yet he attempted to answer others. 

Now brethren, had we not already occupied so much of our time, 
we would have summoned all the great Church Councils of the past, 
called to make creeds, and compared them with our own Westminster 
Assembly. As it is, we rest with the assertion that we know of only 
one other such body worthy of comparison with the Westminster 
Assembly. That is the Synod of Dort. The moral and intellectual 
character of the Synod of Dort does approximate — some say it equals 
— that of the the Westminster Assembly. Nowhere else in all the 
past since the days of the Apostles do we find such a body. The First 
Ecumenical Council of Nicea and the Fourth, at Chalcedon, are far 
inferior in the learning, ability, and piety of their members; and they 
are universally esteemed the most venerated Councils in the Church 
prior to the Reformation. 

The age of the Westminster Assembly was a great age, partic- 
ularly in religion. It may well be doubted whether in any age since 
that of Paul and John there has been such study given to the Word of 
God as these Puritans gave it— for the purposes for which they 
studied it— viz. ; to get out the very heart and core of the Scriptural 
ethics and doctrine, as a rule of life and a means of salvation. 

The Assembly was in every way worthy of its age. The study of 
the Assembly should, we believe, tend only to the further exaltation 
of the Westminster Standards, of the Bible, of the Grace of God, and 
His glory in the salvation of men. Amen. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The address of Rev. Thornton Whaling, D. D., of 
Lexington, Virginia, was as follows: 

THE WORK OF WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY 

The Westminster Assembly met at 9 o'clock of the morning on Sat- 
urday, the 1st of July, 1643, in Westminster Abbey, and was opened 
with a sermon by their moderator, termed by them Prolocutor, Dr. 
Twisse, on John XIV; 18: "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come 
to you." There were present at this opening session sixty-nine of the 
151 members named in the ordinance of the Long Parliament conven- 
ing the Assembly of Divines; there were also present both houses 
of Parliament and a vast congregation which thronged the ample 
spaces of the historic Abbey Church. At the close of the protracted 
opening services (services so protracted that I fear they would have 
taxed and perhaps overtaxed the patience of modern Presbyterians) 
which according to the custom of the patient and heroic Puritans con- 
sumed many hours, the Assembly began its work in the gorgeous 
chapel of Henry VII, which three years before had been the scene of 
the Convocation of 1640, notorious for its forlorn attempt to carry 
that policy of "Thorough" which brought both Strafford and Laud to 
the block— "thorough" despotism in both Church and State. Light- 
foot, a member of the assembly and whose journals furnish us much of 
our knowledge of its proceedings, tells us that at this opening meeting 
"divers speeches were made by divers" [which would aptly characterize 
the proceedings of many of our church assemblies] "and that Parlia- 
ment not having as yet framed or proposed any works for the Assem- 
bly suddenly to fall upon, it was adjourned till the Thursday following. ' ' 
On Thursday the Assembly, with a wise and elaborate foresight, 
adopted the ample rules by which its procedure in future sessions was 
to be governed, and appointed the next day as a day of fasting and 
prayer for God's blessing on their work. Accordingly the Rev. Oliver 
Boyles preached all the forenoon of Friday before the Assembly, both 
houses of Parliament and a crowded congregation in the Abbey church, 
and the Rev. Matthew Newcommen occupied the afternoon in the same 
way. They had more preaching and fasting than is fashionable at 
ecclesiastical courts in our day. On Saturday the protestation or 
vow required of the Assembly was taken by the members present — 
peers and commoners as well as divines — to the following effect: "I do 
seriously promise and vow in the presence of Almighty God, that in 
this Assembly, whereof I am a member, I will maintain nothing in 
point of doctrine, but what I believe, to be most agreeable to the 
Word of God; nor in the point of discipline, but what may make most 
for God's glory and the peace and good of His church." 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



At the same meeting by the advice of Parliament, it was resolved 
to proceed at once with the revision of the thirty-nine Articles in 
order to free them from false glosses put upon them by Pelagianizing 
and Romanizing divines, and especially to render impossible that inter- 
pretation of the Artcles which a bold pervert to Romanism, Dr. Daven- 
port, in 1634, anticipated Newman on his Tract No. 90, in publishing. 

To ^facilitate their work the entire Assembly was divided into 
three equal committees, the first, of which Dr. Burgess was chairman, 
was to meet in Henry VII chapel and to take in hand the first, second, 
third and fourth Articles; the second committee, of which Dr. Stanton 
was chairman, was to meet in St. John's and St. Andrew's chapel, 
and proceed on the fifth, sixth and seventh Articles; the third was to 
meet in the Jerusalem Chamber and to take up the eighth, ninth and 
tenth. From the 12th of July till the 12th of October the Assembly 
was occupied with the revision of the thirty-nine Articles. And now 
as we have the Assembly at work, let us have some description of it 
from good old garrulous Robert Bailie, who was a member and whose 
letters are preserved for us to the extent of three octavo volumes, 
that reproduce for the historic imagination the most lively pictures of 
its proceedings. " They did sit in Henry YII's chapel, in the place of 
the Convocation, but since the weather grew cold they did go to Jeru- 
salem Chamber. At the one end nearest the door and both sides are 
stages of seats. At the upmost end there is a chair set on a frame, 
a foot from the floor, for the Mr. Prolocutor [moderator] Dr. Twisse. 
Before it on the floor stand two chairs for the two assessors [or vice 
moderators] Dr. Burgess and Mr. Whyte. Before these two chairs 
through the length of the room, stands a table, at which sit the two 
scribes [or clerks] Mr. Byfield and Mr. Roborough. The house is all 
well hung with tapestry and has a good fyre which is some dainties at 
London. Foranent the table upon the Prolocutor's right hand, there 
are three or four ranks of forms. On the lowest we find do sit the 
five Scotch commissioners. At our backs the members of Parliament 
deputed to the Assembly. On the Prolocutor's left hand going from 
the upper end of the house to the chimney and at the other end of the 
house and backside of the table, are four or five stages of forms. 
From the chimney to the door there are no seats but a void for passage. 
The lords of Parliament sit on chairs in that void about the fire. We 
meet every day of the week but Saturday. We sit commonlie from 
nine to one or two afternoon. The Prolocutor at the beginning and 
end has a short prayer. The man, as the world knows, is very learned 
in the questions he has studied and very good, beloved of all, and 
highlie esteemed, but merely bookish, and not much as it seems 
acquaint with conceived prayer and among the unfittest of all the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



company for any action; so after the prayer he sits mute. It was the 
canny convoyance of those who guide most matters for their own 
interest to plant such a man of purpose in the chair." [So that Bailie 
thinks that what the moderns call "log rolling " was practiced even 
in the choice of the moderator of the Westminster Assembly. Per- 
haps it was only Bailie's suspicion.] "The one assessor, our good 
friend, Mr. Whyte, has keeped in with the gout since our coming; the 
other, Dr. Burgess, a very active and sharpe man, supplies so far as 
is decent, the Prolocutor's place. Ordinarily there will be present 
about three score of these divines. They are divided into three 
committees; on one whereof every man is a member. No man is 
excluded who pleases to come to any of the three. Every committee, 
as the Parliament gives order in wryte to take any purpose to consid- 
eration, takes a portion, and in their afternoon meeting prepares matter 
for the Assembly, setts down their minde in distinct propositions, 
backs their proposition with texts of Scripture. After the prayer Mr. 
Byfield, the scribe, reads the proposition and Scriptures, whereupon 
the Assembly debates in a most grave and orderly manner. No man 
is called up to speak, but who stands up of his own accord, he speaks 
as long as he will without interruption. If two or three stand up at 
once, then the divines confusedlie call on his name, whom they desire 
to hear first; on whom the loudest and maniest voices call he speaks. 
They harangue long and very learnedly. When upon every proposition 
by itself and on every text of Scripture that is brought to confirm it, 
every man who will has said his whole minde and the replies and 
duplies and triplies, are heard: Then the most part calls to the ques- 
tion. Byfield, the scribe, rises from the table, comes to the Prolo- 
cutor's chair, who from the scribe's book reads the proposition, and 
says as many as are of the opinion that the question is well stated in 
the proposition let them say, 'aye': When 'aye' is heard, he says, as 
many as think otherwise say, 'no.' This way is clear enough and saves 
a great deal of time which we spend in reading our catalogue. When 
a question is once decided there is no more debate of that matter, but 
if a man will vaige he is quickly taken up by Mr. Assessor or many 
other confusedly crying 'Speak to order, to order.' I thought meet for 
once to give you a taste of the outward form of their Assembly. They 
follow the way of their Parliament. Much of their way is good and 
worthy of imitation; only their longsomeness is wofull." 

Good brother Bailie is not the only man who ever complained of 
Puritan and Presbyterian preachers, "their longsomeness is wofull." 
He fails to mention the insufficient remuneration of a Westminster 
divine which at first was very irregularly paid and afterwards not 
paid at all. Satirists of that time make themselves merry over their 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



per diem of four shillings, and yet because it was not paid, some were 
reduced to great financial straits and were compelled to cease attend- 
ance upon the Assembly. Even the Westminster divines were not 
birds of Paradise feeding upon the dews of heaven. 

Before the 12th of October the Assembly had completed the 
revision of fifteen of the articles and were proceeding with the 
sixteenth when an order came from Parliament to lay aside this work 
and take up at once the government and liturgy of the Church. This 
order was the result of an alliance formed between the Long Parlia- 
ment and the Scotch Estate and General Assembly. While the 
revision of the thirty-nine articles was being carried on by the West- 
minster divines, the cause of the Parliament had experienced severe 
reverses in the country and the resolution was formed to outbid the 
King for the Scotch alliance. Negotiations were entered into for that 
purpose with the result of the adoption by both kingdoms of the 
Solemn League and Covenant, drawn up by the Scotch divine, Alex- 
ander Henderson, which pledged "the defense and preservation of 
the Reformed religion in the church of Scotland in doctrine, worship, 
discipline, and government, and the reformation of religion in the 
kingdoms of England and Ireland, according to the word of God and 
the practice of the best Reformed Churches and the bringing of the 
Church of God in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and 
uniformity in religion. Confession of faith, form of church govern- 
ment, Directories for worship and catechising," The work of the 
Westminster Assembly had been originally defined to be "to confer 
and treat concering the liturgy, discipline and government of the 
Church of England, and the vindicating of the doctrine of the same 
from all false aspersions and misconstructions," but its mission as 
indicated in this Solemn League and Covenant, was now broadened 
to include the provisions of formularies of doctrine, government, 
discipline and worship for the Church of God in the three kingdoms of 
England, Scotland and Ireland. This solemn covenant between 
England and Scotland was not formed without meeting opposition 
even in the Westminster Assembly itself, Dr. Burgess, a leading 
member of that body, one of the assessors and chairman of the first com- 
mittee, spoke in opposition to it, and petitioned the House of Commons 
against it. For these offenses Dr. Lightfoot, equally prominent among 
the Westminster divines characterized, him as a "wretch to be 
branded to all posterity, seeking for some devilish ends of his own or 
others or both to hinder so great a good of the two nations." Even 
ministerial controversies had not always been tempered by a sweet 
and gentle courtesy. Paul and Barnabas, Lightfoot and Burgess. 
But the Covenant was adopted, and in consequence commissioners 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, whose influence 
was destined to be so great, in some respects to be paramount, in 
future deliberations in the Westminster Assembly, took their seats 
in that remarkable body, amongst which commissioners were inscribed 
the venerable names of Alexander Henderson, Samuel Rutherford, 
George Gillispie, Robert Bailie, and John Lord Maitland. 

And now began those interminable controversies over the govern- 
ment of the Church, which consumed more of the time of the Assembly 
than the framing of any of its majestic doctrinal symbols. The reason 
of this is found in the fact, not that the polity of the Church was 
regarded as of equal importance with its formularies of faith, but 
because while all were agreed in the acceptance of Calvinistic doctrine, 
there were many shades of opinion in the Assembly as to the Scriptural 
and convenient polity of the Church. There were advocates of Episco- 
pacy of the type of Dr. Featley, there were prudential Presbyterians 
who afterward conformed to Episcopacy at the time of the Restoration, 
of the type of Doctor, afterwards Bishop Reynolds; there were Jure Di- 
vino Presbyterians of the type of the Scotch commissioners, with whom 
agreed perhaps a majority of the Assembly; there were moderate Pres- 
byterians who denied the presbyter theory of the eldership; there were 
independents of the type of the five famous brethren, Mr. Goodwin, Mr. 
Nye, Mr. Burroghs, Mr. Greenhill, Mr. Bridge; there were Erasteans 
of the type of the learned and godly Selden, anti-quariorium corypha/us, 
in fact all parties were represented in it except extreme high church- 
men of the type of Laud and the anabaptists; a body thus composed 
must be racked with controversies when attempting to frame a form 
of church government and discipline for the Church of God in the three 
British kingdoms. There were three treatises upon the subject of 
ecclesiastical government and discipline prepared by the Westminster 
Assembly during the first two years of its history. On the 20th of 
April, 1644, more than six months after it began its work in the field 
of Church polity, the Assembly sent to the House of Parliament the 
first installment of its form of church government in the Directory of 
Ordination. Six months later, on the 8th of November, 1644, the 
second installment was remitted in the treatise entitled ' 'Propositions 
Concerning Church Government"; these two were united and entitled 
1 'Form of Church Government' ' when they were adopted by the Church 
of Scotland, and with some amendment they constitute the form of 
government of the Presbyterian Church of America as well. The third 
treatise was a practical directory for church government and dis- 
cipline prepared in the latter part of the year 1644 and the earlier part 
of 1645, and delivered to Parliament on 7th July, 1645. This practical 
directory was never adopted by the Church of Scotland, which still 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



clung to its old book of discipline, but was embodied in the ordinance 
passed by the House of Parliament in 1648, under the title, "The Form 
of Church Government, to be Used in England and Ireland"— so that 
the Presbyterian Church was for some years the established Church of 
England. This third Westminster treatise on church government, 
has never been adopted by any Church as a part of its form of govern- 
ment, save by the Anglican Church for this short time, but it remains 
as a valuable illustration of a large and liberal construction of Pres- 
byterian polity sanctioned by the Westminster Assembly itself, for if 
it be not invidious to constitute comparisons it manifests a more 
liberal and catholic spirit than any of the products of the Assembly in 
this vexed field of church government, actually sustaining, I do not 
hesitate to say I think incorrectly, the opinion that the people may be 
represented by idoneous persons as well as elders, since it asserts that 
"synodical assemblies to consist of pastors, teachers, Church gov- 
ernors, and other fit persons (when it shall be deemed expedient) 
where they have a lawful calling thereunto. " * * * * 

But the chief work of this Assembly for which after ages will 
keep it in everlasting remembrance is in the sphere of doctrine. The 
revision of the thirty-nine Articles which in the providence of God 
constituted its work in the earlier months of its existence was an 
admirable preparation for the fresh and original creation of new 
symbols of faith. These Articles are often published in the shape in 
which they were adopted by the Long Parliament but never, so far as 
I have been able to discover, in the form in which they were presented 
by the Westminster Assembly. Dr. Mitchell tells us that its original 
Westminster form may be found in a rare volume of tracts in the 
British Museum. During the long controversy between the Parlia- 
ment and the Assembly, for such it ought to be termed, the 
Assembly prepared a short creed to be required of applicants for 
admission to the Lord's table and containing the fundamentals of the 
Christain faith. The noisy advocates who perplex the modern Church 
by arguing for the substitution of the longer and complex Confession 
by a shorter creed, should be referred to this short Creed in which 
their demands are anticipated but perhaps not in a form to their taste, 
as this Short Creed is as distinctly Calvinistic as the Confession or 
the Catechisms. Short Creed is the next best thing to no Creed to 
those who wish to rid themselves of all doctrine and dogma. 

The real preparation of the present Confession of Faith began on 
the 20th of August, 1644, by the appointment of a committee to pre- 
pare matter for a joint Confession of Faith; the subject of most of 
the chapters embodied in the Confession being fixed by this com- 
mittee. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The heads of the chapters of the proposed Confession prepared by 
this committee were later distributed amongst the three committees 
into which the whole Assembly was divided with instructions to fully 
discuss and elaborate them before bringing into the Assembly. 

The exact form which our Confession assumed of thirty-three 
chapters covering the entire field of theology and Christian ethics is 
due to this distribution of topics amongst these permanent committees 
of the Assembly. The reports of these committees began on the 7th 
of July, 1645, but was much interrupted by the differences which 
arose in the houses of Parliament and the Assembly as to the autonomy 
of the Church. So far as appears from the minutes, the various 
Articles of the Confession were passed by the Assembly all but unan- 
imously. The main occasions on which there was a failure to secure 
unanimity were with regard to the omission of the word "blessed" 
before the Virgin Mother of our Lord; the dissent from the words 
" foreordained to everlasting death," and the decided protest against 
the Westminster doctrine of Church and State, which indeed has been 
completely revolutionized by the American Church. After five months 
of constant work by the Assembly, on the 4th of December, 1646, the 
completed Confession of Faith without Scripture proofs was presented 
to the House of Commons, but a new order was made that the 
Scripture proofs be added, and on 29th of April, 1647, a committee of 
the Assembly further presented to both houses the Confession of 
Faith with the Scripture proofs inserted in the margin. I am sorry 
that the proof-texts printed in our present Confession of Faith are 
not those adopted by the Westminster Assembly. The proof-texts 
which the Westminster Assembly spent three months in providing for 
the Confession and four months in providing for the Catechisms were 
removed by the First General Assembly of the American Presbyterian 
Church in 1788, which adopted the constitution without proof -texts, 
but in 1794 a committee was appointed to add proof -texts, and thus 
our present proof-texts are those provided by a committee of the 
American General Assembly and not those so carefully prepared by 
the Westminster Assembly. 

The contents of the Confession may be described as Puritan theology, 
Puritan ethics, and the Puritan doctrine of the Church and the sacra- 
ments. It is true that all the doctrinal achievements of the Church in 
the past are conserved and utilized, the Athanasian and Nicene Trini- 
tarianism, the Chalcedonian Christology, the Augustinian Anthro- 
pology, the Anselmic and Reformed Soberiolgies are wrought into its 
organic structure but the organic principle which unifies and vitalizes 
all of its constituent materials is the doctrine of the Covenants, which 
all historians of the development of doctrine are now agreed in holding 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



was not derived by the Puritan divines from the Dutch school of 
Witsins and Cocoeius, but which the Dutch divines derived from the 
English Puritans. 

The preparation of the catechisms went on simultaneously with 
that of the Confession. Early in the sessions of the Assembly a com- 
mittee was appointed to prepare a catechism whose chairman was the 
most learned catechist in the kingdom, "the learned and godly little 
Palmer," as garrulous Bailie calls him. The Westminster Assembly 
was an Assembly of catechists ; twelve or fourteen of them had pub- 
lished catechisms of their own and all of them practised the now 
obsolete art of pastoral catechising in their congregations and hence 
the work commanded enthusiastic and undivided attention; the pre- 
paration of the larger Catechism consuming more time than that of 
the Confession itself; indeed the most elaborate and complete exposition 
of Puritan and Westminster theology and ethics is to be found in this 
great catechism. The Shorter Catechism, however, has been far 
more popular and influential. But it makes one shudder to contem- 
plate how near the Westminster Assembly came to miss preparing the 
Lesser Catechism for the children. The Assembly's catechism had 
been prepared after a year's work by Mr. Palmer's committee, had 
been debated in the Assembly for four months, when, on January 14, 
1647, after much discussion, it was resolved to prepare two catechisms, 
a larger and a smaller; the larger one to be explained to the people by 
the minister from the pulpit following the custom of the Reformed 
Churches on the continent, and the smaller one designed for the 
instruction of children. Even after the decision was reached to frame 
this shorter catechism, Mr. Palmer, supported by the Scotch commis- 
sioners, whose influence was great and often decisive, insisted on 
breaking up all the principal answers into a series of short questions 
admitting of the simple reply by the child "yes" or "no" — the 
result of which would have been to give us an entirely different cate- 
chism from that historic one with which all of us are so familiar. 
Certainly such a catechism would have violated the fundamental prin- 
ciple which guided the construction of the one we have as stated by 
Dr. Lazarus Seamon : * ' That the greatest care should be taken to 
frame the answer not according to the amount of the knowledge the 
child hath, but according to that the child ought to have." After a 
"longsome and woful discussion" in the good Providence of God 
" little Palmer " died and the catechism was prepared in the form in 
which we now have it. Many a good man has to die and get out of 
the way before God's work can go on in the way He wants it. And 
so the work went on, the Larger Catechism was completed October 
15, 1647, and the shorter one, called indiscriminately in minutes of 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Assembly the "Little Catechism," the "Lesser Catechism," the 
"Short Catechism," the "Shorter Catechism," on November 25, 1647, 
and with their proof -texts, which it cost the Assembly four months to 
prepare, were presented to Parliament April 12, 1648. * * * 

It falls not within my purpose this morning to explain the failure 
of the Westminster Assembly to accomplish the purpose for which it 
was convened by the Long Parliament, viz: To secure uniformity in 
the Church of God in England, Scotland and Ireland in doctrine, 
worship, government and discipline nor is it my purpose to discuss the 
wide and helpful influences which its Standards exerted upon the 
Churches of Christendom, especially upon the Presbyterian Churches 
of Scotland and North America. 

But perhaps I may point your attention to the adamantine industry 
with which it carried on its work through more than 1,200 sessions; to 
the unfailing courage with which it faced the threats of the King and 
of its ally, the Long Parliament — to the fidelity to God's Word with 
which it sought to base every principle of doctrine, government and 
worship upon its teachings — "to back every proposition with texts of 
Scripture " as was said of them; above all I may emphasize the breadth 
and catholicity of the Westminster Standards. There may be narrow 
Presbyterians; there can be no such thing as narrow Presbyterianism, 
if the Westminster symbols be an adequate expression of Presby- 
terian doctrine and polity. All who accept Calvanistic doctrine and 
Presbyterian order may accept its liberal and generous and yet care- 
fully drawn and scientific statements. Supra and Sub-lapsarians, 
Creationists and Traducianists, immediate and mediate Imputationists 
may all find ample room within its catholic embrace, which was 
widened of set purpose to enclose all these and many other parties, 
provided they only accept the historic Calvinism and a generous Pres- 
byterian polity. Nor is there wanting proof that the Westminster 
divines looked beyond the catholic Presbyterianism in which they 
believed with all their hearts to the wider interests of the Kingdom of 
God, of which they felt that all individual and national Churches were 
but fractional parts. 

The address of Hon. Joseph Addison Waddell, of 
Staunton, Virginia, follows: 

THE SHORTER CATECHISM 

If the Legislature of Virginia or the Congress of the United 
States should pass an ordinance convening an ecclesiastical assembly 
to adopt a confession of faith and rules for church service, it would 
be considered a very strange proceeding. But that is what the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Parliament of England did a little more than two hundred and fifty 
years ago, and it was generally regarded as entirely right and proper. 
It was not till the American Revolution that the Christian world began 
to understand that civil governments had nothing to do with church 
or religious affairs. It was almost universally considered the right 
and duty of the State to provide for the maintenance of religion, and 
that involved the necessity or expediency of prescribing the system of 
doctrine and the mode of worship to be supported. 

Therefore, the Parliament and a majority of the people of England 
being dissatisfied with previous Church establishment, which had been 
abolished, the Westminster Assembly was convened, to recommend a 
Confession of Faith and Directory of Church Government. 

It is not my appointed task, however, to speak of the members or 
the general work of the Assembly. One result of their labor has been 
assigned to me — the Shorter Catechism. A recent writer in a Quar- 
terly Review describes this Catechism as ' 'the work of the greatest 
intellects in one of the most intellectual periods of Great Britain, and 
the fruit of the richest Christian experience of saints, at least as dis- 
tinguished as any that the Church of God has ever, at any one time, 
included in its membership." 

The Larger Catechism was completed first, but the Shorter was 
first reported to the House of Commons. The framing of the Cate- 
chism appears to have been the work of a committee, and not of any 
one individual. It was brought to its present degree of excellence by 
the united deliberations of the whole Assembly; but its concise and 
logical answers are supposed to have been finally adjusted by Dr. 
Willis, a professor at Oxford, and one of the most distinguished mathe- 
maticians of his day. 

The Catechism is not distinctively Presbyterian, as it is confined 
exclusively to doctrine and does not touch the subject of Church 
Government. It has been adopted, in whole or in part, by other 
churches besides the Presbyterian, and, with the exception of a few 
of the answers, is the creed of universal Protestantism. 

It is divided into two parts. The first part, to the 36th question, 
inclusive, teaches what we are to believe concerning God, and the 
remainder what duties God requires of us. It embraces also analyses 
and expositions of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. 

The title given by the Assembly was, 4 'The Grounds and Principles 
of Religion, Contained in a Shorter Catechism." The Catechism is, 
therefore, a systematic statement of religious truths— a "body of 
divinity." Read the answers, omitting the questions, and observe 
the continuity. How grandly it begins : ' 'Man's chief end is to glorify 
God and enjoy him forever. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



"The word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how to glorify, 
and enjoy him. 

"The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe con- 
cerning God and what duty God requires of man. 

"God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in his being, 
wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." 

Observe also the completeness and yet brevity of the answers. 
There is not a surplus or an unnecessary word, nor a word absent that 
ought to be there to bring out the meaning. In a literary point of 
view, and as specimens of the exact use of words, the answers are 
unsurpassed. 

Examine the first answer for a moment. Ancient Stoics and 
Epicurians disputed as to the chief purpose of life— the object that 
should engage the attention and enlist the efforts of intelligent 
creatures; and some modern philosophers, so called, assign one object 
and some another. Here we are taught that we are created, first 
to glorify God. God made all things for His own glory, not as an arbi- 
trary and selfish tyrant, but as a beneficent being, for, secondly, He 
created man to "enjoy him forever," offering Himself with all the 
riches of the universe for the enjoyment of His creatures. 

The second answer is full and complete. How shall we learn the 
way of duty and happiness? From our reason? Alas, no. The reason of 
the wisest of men often misleads them. From tradition, or the 
decrees of popes and councils? Far from it. But from the "Word of 
God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments." "The Bible! the Bible! the religion of Protestants." 

In the third answer we are taught that the Scriptures reveal to us 
all that is necessary for us to know concerning God, and fully informs 
us in regard to the duties God requires of us. 

We are almost ready to believe that the fourth answer was given 
by inspiration. It is said that when the Assembly came to the ques- 
tion, "What is God?" they were overcome with awe— a finite crea- 
ture to give a definition of the infinite Creator ! Gillespie, of Scot- 
land, is said to have led the Assembly in prayer for divine guidance, 
and to have begun thus : "O God, thou art a Spirit, infinite, eternal 
and unchangeable in thy being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
goodness and truth." "When he ceased," says Hetherington in his 
history of the Assembly, "the first sentence of the prayer was 
immediately written by one of the brethren, read and adopted as the 
most perfect answer that could be conceived— as indeed, in a very 
sacred sense, God's own answer, given to prayer and in prayer, 
descriptive of Himself." 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Recent investigations render it somewhat doubtful whether it was 
Gillespie who led the meeting in prayer, but the main features of the 
anecdote are probably true. 

*** * * * * * *** 

All the cardinal doctrines of religion are declared and defined. 
The doctrine of the Trinity : ' 'There are three persons in the God- 
head—the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and these three are 
one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory." The 
divinity and humanity of Christ are distinctly taught ; also the sover- 
eignty of God and the free agency of man; the doctrines of sin, of 
the atonement, of faith, repentance, justification, sanctification and 
adoption ; justification an act, salification a work— the former 
instantaneous, the latter progressive. Adoption is defined as "an act 
of God's free grace, whereby we were received into the number, and 
have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God." 

The Catechism is invaluable as giving definitions of Bible terms. 
We never have a clear-cut comprehension of any idea till we can 
express it in words. Till then our perception is more or less confused 
and unsatisfactory. We hear of repentance, faith, justification, 
sanctification. What do the words mean ? The answers are in the 
Catechism. "Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a 
sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy 
of God, in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it 
unto God, with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience." 
There is not a word about "penance," undergoing bodily or mental 
torture, which we are so apt to associate with the idea of repentance, 
as a preliminary, if not necessary, part of it. 

Then as to faith, I have heard it said from the pulpit that faith may 
be described, but cannot be defined. To me, however, the definition 
of the Catechism is entirely satisfactory: "Faith in Jesus Christ is a 
saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salva- 
tion, as he is offered to us in the gospel." And so of justification, 
sanctification, etc. 

The definition of sin covers the whole ground. "Sin is any want 
of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God"— not only 
doing what is forbidden, but failing to do what is required. 

Presbyterian doctrine is sometimes criticised as harsh and morose, 
giving an unattractive view of God. Let us see. We are taught in 
the Catechism that "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, 
for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession 
of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." And 
further: "The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which is 'Our 



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Father which art in heaven,' teaches us to draw near to God with all 
holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready 
to help us; and that we should pray with and for others." Can any- 
thing be more winning than that? The Catechism does not ignore 
any of God's attributes. It declares His holiness and justice, but also 
sets forth His mercy to fallen and guilty man. Very different this from 
the short creed of a certain class of people who talk much about the 
"Fatherhood of God" and appear to credit the Divine Being with only 
one moral attribute, that of indiscriminate benevolence. "Like as a 
father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth"— whom?— "them that 
fear Him"— who cherish for Him filial reverence and love. 

Let us look at a few other answers: "The souls of believers are, 
at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
glory; and their bodies being still united to Christ, do rest in their 
graves till the resurrection. ' ' What comfort to the bereaved, at the 
open grave, is the fact thus declared, that the bodies of the dead, 
which they knew and loved, are not cast off by the Heavenly Father, 
but are ' 'still united to Christ, ' ' who redeemed and cares for the body 
as well as the soul. 

Take the 21st answer, "The only redeemer of God's elect is the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became man, 
and so was and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures 
and one person forever. ' ' Mark the word ' 'continueth. ' ' He not only 
was man, but is man. We are disposed to dwell almost exclusively on 
the death of Christ, and sometimes forget that He rose from the dead 
and ascended into heaven. We rejoice that He became man and 
suffered in our stead, and often overlook the fact that He is still man 
as well as God. This truth is beautifully expressed in the familiar 
hymn of the Scotch poet, Michael Bruce: 

Where high the heavenly temple stands, 
The house of God not made with hands, 
A great High Priest our nature wears, 
The advocate of saints appears. 

Though now ascended up on high 
He bends on earth a brother's eye, 
Partakes of the human name, 
He knows the frailty of our frame. 

Shall the Catechism take the place of the Bible? By no means. 
As well take the dictionary in place of all works of literature. 
The Catechism is only a summary and orderly system of Bible 
truths, and definitions of Bible terms. We must read and meditate 
upon the Scriptures as the source of all religious knowledge, hope and 
comfort. But the Bible is not a system of theology. It is framed" 



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like God's works of nature. Flowers are scattered thoughout the 
world, and men are left to arrange and classify them and form a 
system of botany. Shall there be no science of botany because the 
flowers exist already? Shall there be no classification and definition of 
Bible terms and truth because the truths are already in the Bible? 
A chief object of the Catechism is to help us to understand the Bible. 

The Shorter Catechism was presented to the House of Commons 
on the 25th of November, 1647, and the Larger on the 14th of April, 
1648. The Confession, Catechism and Form of Government were 
formally adopted by the Parliament, but were set aside in England in 
the political revolution which soon afterwards occurred. We are told, 
however, that in several country districts in England, where Presby- 
terians once abounded, schoolmasters still have a right to small salaries, 
on condition that they shall teach the children the Shorter Catechism. 

Both Catechisms were transmitted to Scotland, and were approved 
by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in July, 1648. The 
Presbyterian Church of Scotland had been organized nearly a hundred 
years before that date. And at this day, Scottish Presbyterianism, 
split as it is into three great sections, yet all retain their hereditary 
regard for the Shorter Catechism, which has been long used as the 
basis of education. 

Ask a genuine Scotchman— not a renegade— the first question of 
the Catechism, and he will promptly give the answer. Ask him 
further to repeat the 23d Psalm, and nine chances to one he will give 
it to you in Rouse's Version: 

The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want; 

He makes me down to lie 
In pastures green: He leadeth me 

The quiet waters by. 

It has passed into a proverb that Scotchmen subsist on oatmeal 
and the Shorter Catechism. 

The great Scotch preacher, Dr. Guthrie, visited the Jerusalem 
Chamber in which the Westminster Assembly sat. and writing a few 
days afterwards says: "It contains the oldest picture of any English 
King; and, in the Westminster Assembly, held a convention of the 
best, greatest and wisest men that perhaps ever met on this earth. I 
felt there as if I stood at the well-head of our national religion, and 
of those moral and religious influences that have made Scotland and 
Scotchmen what they are." 

The doctrines of the Catechism, ardently believed in by the 
Covenanters, nerved those sturdy men to endure the persecutions they 
suffered. They were driven to take refuge in caves, they were shot 
down on mountains and moors, tortued by the boot and thumb-screw, 

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and put to death on the scaffold; but they would not, by word or act, 
tell a lie. Frail women were not spared, and two of them, tied to 
stakes in the water, preferred to be drowned by the rising tide rather 
than deny their faith. 

"At all times a man who will do faithfully needs to believe firmly, " 
says Thomas Carlyle. 

The Confession and Catechism were also adopted by the Presby- 
terian Church of Ireland, and from that country, more directly than 
from Scotland, they were brought to America. Wherever the Scotch 
and Scotch-Irish imigrants have gone, these standards have been 
carried. The early Scotch-Irish settlers of this Valley were a restless 
race, often breaking up and moving to other places; and whatever they 
left behind, the Confession of Faith and the Shorter Catechism were 
not. In October, 1783, a large party of Augusta County people 
assembled at Staunton— men, women and children — preparatory to 
starting to Kentucky in search of new homes. They had to travel on 
horse-back through the wilderness, by a circuitous route beset by 
hostile Indians and ravenous beasts, and it required a month's time to 
make the journey. They could not take many domestic comforts with 
them, but we have a list of the books they carried along. First there 
was the Bible, second the Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, 
and third Rouse's Version of the Psalms of David. 

Objection is sometimes made to requiring children to commit the 
Catechism to memory, on the ground that they do not understand it. 
But are children to be taught nothing they do not understand? If so, 
they will make slow progress in education, and the mind will be kept in a 
state of perpetual immaturity. Many a school boy is made to commit to 
memory the rules of Latin Grammar, which he understands as little as 
he does the Shorter Catechism. But he will understand them. The 
Catechism is wholesome nourishment for young people, although they 
may not fully digest all of it immediately; and for grown men it is 
strong and savory food. Safely fixed in the memory, devout persons 
find the answers subjects for meditation and sources of help and com- 
fort throughout life. The Scotch writer, Barrie, in one of his recent 
works, speaks of the Shorter Catechism as "one of the noblest of 
books," which Scottish children were accustomed to learn by heart, 
- 'not understanding it at the time, but its meaning comes long after- 
wards and suddenly, when you have most need of it." 

A venerable elder of the Presbyterian Church told me that, when 
a boy, he was required to commit the Catechism at the ' 'old field 
school" he attended. He learned it so thoroughly that he could 
answer the questions and recite the answers from the beginning to the 
end, and then ask and answer from the end to the beginning. He 



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expressed no regret that be had been thus drilled, but spoke of it 
with a glowing face and as a source of satisfaction to himself. An 
aged lady living in this town, more than ninety years old, blind and 
deaf, can still repeat the whole Catechism which was laid up in her 
memory during childhood. 

The celebrated scholar, Dr. ScharT, has said, "The Shorter 
Catechism is one of the three typical catechisms of Protestantism 
which is likely to last to the end of time." And Thomas Carlyle said, 
"The older I grow— and I now stand on the brink of eternity — the 
more comes back to me the first sentence of the Catechism, which I 
learned when a child, and the fuller and deeper its meaning becomes: 

'What is the chief end of man? 

'Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.' " 

Following is the address of Rev. G. W. Finley, D. D., 
of Tinkling Spring Church : 

THE DOCTRINES OF CALVINISM IN NOTABLE REVIVALS OF RELIGION 

The place given in the rich programme of this occasion to the 
subject about which I am to speak precludes any necessity for setting 
forth in detail what we call Calinnistic Doctrines. 

We would have you, however, to observe and remember that they 
are so called not because they originated with John Calvin— great and 
good man as he was — or were first taught by him. For they can be 
clearly traced back through the centuries, as held and taught by 
Anselm (1033—1109) ; Augustine (353-430) ; by inspired Apostles Paul, 
Peter and John; by Prophets of the Old Testament, and by the 
Master himself when in the flesh he trod the hills of Judea and walked 
by the bank of Gennesaret. Calvin only stated them clearly and 
fully and defended them with most signal ability. 

That doctrines thus found in both the Old and New Testaments 
have had necessarily a large place and mighty power in beginning, 
promoting and testing true revivals we might confidently expect and 
assert. For they are the very instrument the Holy Spirit is engaged 
to employ in awakening, regenerating and sanctifying sinners "lost 
and ruined in the fall." They constitute that incorruptible seed ''the 
word of God which liveth and abideth forever, ' ' by which sinful men 
are born into the kingdom — that truth by which, as the Great Inter- 
cessor prayed, they are to be sanctified. 

But this simple argument from cause to effect, however conclu- 
sive to us, is not so satisfactory to others. Happily, the records, both 
sacred and secular, enable us to employ also the argument from effect 
to cause. 



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If we examine carefully and without prejudice the outline of 
Peter's Pentecostal sermon (Acts II) we can not fail to see how full it is 
of just the truths Calvinists teach. For example see in verse 23, 
God's sovereignty and man's free agency, "Him being delivered by 
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken 
and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. ' ' And again in verses 
32 and 33 see God's sovereign grace bestowed upon man without man's 
meritorious co-operation : "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof 
we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God 
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. ' ' 

The Apostle Paul assures us that the gospel which he received 
not after man, ' 'but by the revelations of Jesus Christ, ' ' and which 
he delighted to preach throughout the wide regions traversed by him 
and his colleagues, and through God's blessing with such marvelous 
power, was the very same as that recorded in his Epistles; that 
gospel he so clearly and strikingly summed up in many passages, 
notably, such as Ephesions II chapter, 8-10 verses: 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of your- 
selves, it is the gift of God! Not of works, lest any man should 
boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in 
them." Is not that what we call Calvinistic doctrine, pure and simple? 

The pages of history afford abundant proof that after the days of 
the Apostles the departure from or denial of such doctrines gradually 
but surely opened the way for and brought on the long dreary night 
that came upon the Church and the world— a night relieved from utter 
darkness only by some stars kindled here and there by God to shine 
with the light of His own truth. These pages further show that the 
Great Reformation of the sixteenth century had its birth and its 
marvellous progress in the return to those doctrines so long obscured 
by the errors and formalism of the Roman Catholic and the Greek 
Churches. Almost every great leader in that mighty movement — 
Wy cliff e, of England; Huss, of Bohemia; Jerome, of Prague — the grand- 
fathers of the Reformation as they have been called— as well as the 
fathers, Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingle, Calvin, Knox and Ford were 
one in theology, staunch supporters and teachers of what is now called 
Calvinism. It was not until the Reformation had taken root and 
spread far and wide throughout Germany and other lands that the 
unfortunate divergence in views arose among the leaders, which along 
with political complications so marred and hindered that glorious work. 
In brief, as so well put by a recent writer (Dr. R. C. Reed) "during 
the most critical century of the world's history, Calvinism had the 



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whole field to itself. There was absolutely no competing system 
* * * * The mightest influence for good that emanated 
from any one man during * that period ' emanated from John Calvin. 
His thought was felt by Germany and Switzerland, it was dominant 
among the Hugenots of France, supreme in Holland, fruitful in 
England and, through Knox, moulded Scotland." 

And we may add, however much the world of to-day may delight 
in misrepresenting and scoffing at Calvinistic doctrines, the brightest 
glory of her past, the choicest privileges of her present, the strongest 
and most inspiring hopes for her future have been and are inseparably 
bound up with the reception and teaching of those despised doctrines. 

But, my friends, I suppose that the object in bringing our topic to 
the front at this time was to show something of the place and power 
of Calvinistic doctrines in more modern notable revivals. And here 
my most serious difficulty is found in the attempt to compress within 
reasonable limits the abundant material afforded by the history of 
revivals for the last 350 years. 

In searching its pages, I have been led along paths which have 
grown more and more fascinating, crowded as they were with proofs 
of God's own seal upon the doctrines of our Standards as He so signally 
blessed them in awakening and saving such multitudes of individual 
souls and in arousing sleeping and reviving dying churches. 

With almost the force of a mathematical demonstration these 
records compel the conclusion that no great and real revival of relig- 
ion has ever begun and been maintained without the preaching and 
teaching of the most, if not all, of the distinctive doctrines of Calvin- 
ism, and that, too, even by some who in theory denied and rejected 
them. 

All that is now permitted me is to group the proofs of this asser- 
tion around the three Epochal Revivals found in the 17th, 18th and 
19th centuries. 

Epoch I. (17th century) The 1st of these began about 1625 
and swept over large portions of Scotland, England and Ireland. 
It appeared first in the parish of Stewarton, in Scotland, of which Rev. 
Mr. Castlelaw was pastor, and soon attracted much attention from 
friends and foes. By the latter it was derisively called the ' 'Stewar- 
ton sickness." 

The principal instruments employed by the Holy Spirit were the 
Rev. David Dickson of the neighboring 'parish of Irvine, and Rev. 
Prof. Robert Blair, of Glasgow. These men, well known as sturdy 
Calvinists, along with earnest prayer and personal conversation sought 
in their preaching to arouse the consciences of their hearers to bring 
them to some proper sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and their 



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own helplessness under just condemnation; and then to point them to 
Christ and His gracious and complete remedy freely offered to them in 
His gospel. Fleming in his "Work on the Fulfilling of the Sunday 
School" shows how this movement spread like a stream increasing as 
it flows until its blessed influences were felt in many parts of the land. 
Those who came and witnessed the gladdening sight of so many 
turned from darkness to light and walking in the fear of the Lord and 
comfort of the Holy Ghost took courage and became more earnest 
than ever in prayer and effort for the descent of the Holy Spirit on 
other parts of the Church. These prayers were soon and richly 
answered in the ever memorable revival in the Kirk of Shotts in 
Upper Lanarkshire. 

A number of ministers, especially from those who were then under 
persecution for conscience sake, were invited to assist the pastor (the 
Rev. Mr. Hance) at a communion service to be held on the 20th of 
June, 1630. Among these were the venerable Robert Bruce and John 
Livingstone, a young licentiate and chaplain to the Countess of Wigton. 
The preparatory services and the communion itself were so marked 
by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with both preachers and 
people, that instead of retiring to rest on the evening of the Sabbath, 
they gathered in little companies and spent the whole night in prayer 
and praise and, contrary to usual custom, determined to have a sermon 
on Monday. 

With much difficulty young Livingstone was prevailed upon to 
preach. His text was Ez. XXXVI: 25-26 : "Then will I sprinkle clear 
water upon you and ye shall be clean, from all your filthiness and from 
all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart will I give you and a 
new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart 
out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh." Seldom if 
ever since the Day of Pentecost was such effect produced by a single 
sermon. Five hundred or more traced their conviction and conver- 
sion to it, whose after lives attested the reality of the change wrought 
in them by the Holy Spirit through that word. 

Surely we need not pause to show this audience how every clause, 
yea every word of Livingstone's text is weighty with the great doc- 
trines which men now call Calvinistic. 

Man's sore need in his entirely ruined and helpless condition of a 
change which God only can bring about and which He pledges Himself 
to effect, stands out clearly, not only from the text itself, but from 
the whole passage from which it is taken (from the 16th verse to the 
end of the chapter) as has been so fully and beautifully shown by a 
later son of Scotland — that prince among preachers— Dr. Thos. 
Guthrie, in his admirable book, "The Gospel in Ezekiel." 



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The influence of such doctrines was not only signally seen and felt 
on that day in the Kirkyard at Shotts, but, as Fleming and others 
tell us, was carried by many who were gathered there to other and 
distant parishes and even beyond the seas, where deep and lasting 
effects were produced. There seems to have been a close relation 
between these remarkable movements in Scotland and those which 
occurred almost simultaneously in the Province of Ulster in the North 
of Ireland to which under, God, the churches in this Valley, through 
the ancestors of many, if not the large majority, of their present 
members, are so largely indebted. 

For we find as honored and blessed instruments in that revival, out 
of which grew the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, which in time so 
potently affected the earlier history of the Presbyterian Church in 
this country, the same Robert Blair and John Livingstone, of whom we 
have spoken above, with others, driven from Scotland and England by 
persecution, laboring in the same way and employing the same great 
doctrines of Sin and Redemption which God had owned and blessed in 
their native land. As the historians of this period tell us, the religious 
sentiments of all these men conspicuous in this great work, were those 
usually called Calvinistic and which were at that time maintained 
throughout the three National Churches of Great Britain and Ireland. 

While England may not, during this epoch exhibit to much extent 
the distinctive revival features which marked the progress of true 
religion in Scotland and Ireland, she yet, through God's goodness, 
furnished a noble band of confessors whose labors in expounding and 
defending ' ' the faith once delivered to the saints ' ' have never been 
surpassed if ever equaled. Their writings packed with more or less 
clear-cut Calvinistic teachings have been and are still most powerful 
in stimulating, guiding and nourishing spiritual life. In proof we 
need only mention Bunyan with his " Pilgrim's Progress"; Baxter, 
with his " Reformed Pastor and Call to the Unconverted"; the saintly 
Owen, with his "Works on Regeneration, Justification and the Holy 
Spirit"; Flarce, with his "Fountain of Life"; Alleine, with his 
"Alarm"; Hume, with his noble work on "The Living Temple. " 

As we try to measure the influence exerted upon them and their 
cotemporaries and upon succeeding generations by the doctrines they 
held and taught, well may we exclaim (with one to whom we are in- 
debted for much of the material we are using to-day— Dr. Haman 
Humphrey in his "Revival Sketches, Etc."): "What would our own 
land and Great Britian have been but for this revival period in the 17th 
century ? Who can tell how much of the seed that was then sown 
sprang up and bore such precious fruit in the 18th century to which we 
now turn." 



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Epoch II (in the 18th century) . About the close of the 17th and 
beginning of the 18th centuries most of the churches were in a deplor- 
ably low estate. The old style of preaching was laid aside and cold 
formal addresses had become fashionable. The testimony of such 
witnesses as Drs. Burnet, Watts and Doddridge confirms Archbishop 
Leighton when he says: "The Church is a fair carcass without a 
spirit." Historians give us the dark lines which show that the 
"higher classes laughed at piety and prided themselves upon being 
above what they called its fanaticism ; the lower classes were grossly 
ignorant and abandoned to vice, while the Church enervated by 
universal declension was unable longer to give countenance to the 
downf alien cause of truth." But that dark night was in God's great 
mercy to give way to a glorious day. 

About 1730, almost simultaneously a blessing was poured out upon 
England, Scotland and America, so wonderful that it is still known as 
"The Great Awakening." 

In Scotland and notably at Kilsyth and Camburslang the way was 
prepared by a long series of sermons on subjects which explained the 
nature and showed the necessity of regeneration preached by the pas- 
tors Robe and McCullogh. These, with such ministers as Bonar, White- 
field, Hamilton and others of like mind with them, bore an honored 
and conspicuous part in the revival that followed and saw extending 
over the land the rich fruits of the Spirit in the lives of the people. 

In England a little band of devout students at Oxford, whose 
diligent efforts to learn more fully the Scriptural way of life and strict 
attention to and zeal in the performance of its duties, earned for 
them the nickname of "Methodists" furnished the three most promi- 
nent and effective instruments used by the Lord in the great work in 
that country, namely : John and Charles Wesley and George White- 
field. 

Of these Whitefield was pre-eminently the preacher, Charles Wes- 
ley the sweet singer, and John Wesley the organizer. Finding the 
pulpits of the Established Church, of which they were ministers, 
closed against them, Whitefield, at first alone, and afterwards the 
Wesleys, with Richard and Rowland Hill and others, preached in the 
fields to large, sometimes immense audiences. As the historian, 
Green, tells us they preached with a burning zeal, and such earnest- 
ness of belief, a sympathy with the sin and sorrow of mankind so 
deep and tremulous as to hush criticism. They carried and pro- 
claimed their glad message everywhere, "in the wildest and most 
barbarous corners of the land, among the bleak moors of Northumber- 
land, in the dens of London, and in the long galleries where the Corn- 
ish miner hears in the pauses of his labor the sobbing of the sea*' 
above his head. 

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The success which God gave them is too well known to need recital 
here while, as you are all aware, Whitefield and the Wesleys did not 
agree upon some of the doctrines preached and at one time their differ- 
ences threatened lasting separation and alienation, yet mutual for- 
bearance and charity prevented tLis and they continued to labor together, 
each declaring there was no time to dispute such points while sinners 
were perishing. It is abundantly shown by the records they left of 
their labors that Wesley held and preached the same great doctrines 
of the Fall and man's condition as a sinner since the Fall as earnestly 
and freely as Whitefield, and refrained, as, for instance, when in his 
work in Scotland from giving prominence to the doctrines about which 
they differed (see Life of Wesley by his pupil and friend Henry Moore 
Vol. II p. 145) and in his prayers rejoiced to exalt God upon the throne 
as heartily as ever Whitefield and Hill did, while they preached the 
free offer of salvation as freely as ever Wesley or Fletcher did. In 
Wales the godly Howell Harris, aided by the renowned David Row- 
lands and followed by Thomas Charles, were used by God in a revival 
which, as one of its fruits, shows that large body of Christians then as 
now known as " Welsh Calvinistic Methodists." 

No one familiar at all with the religious history of Great Britain 
during that period can recall such names as we have mentioned along 
with Berridge, Romaine, John Newton and Scott, the commentator, 
and many others can deny to Calvinistic doctrines a large if not the 
chief place and power in rousing the cold and almost dead Church of 
that day and in bringing about the mighty change which was seen in 
the lives of countless thousands in and out of the National Church. 

When we cross the Atlantic and follow this ' ' Great Awakening ' ' 
throughout New England, New Jersey, Virginia and other parts of 
the Colonies of Great Britain in America and see such men as Jonathan 
Edwards, Whitefield, David Brainard, the Tennents, Blair, Dickinson 
and a host like them so preaching the Word in the demonstration and 
power of the Spirit as to bring, as was then estimated, at least 50,000 
of the 2,000,000 of the population of the Colonies to a hopeful confes- 
sion of faith in Jesus Christ; we must reach the same conclusion as to 
the power and place of Calvinism in that mighty work. For even a 
cursory examination of the records of that period with the texts and 
sermons that have come down to us will show how general was the 
revival and use of the cardinal doctrines of the Reformation in the 
preaching of the distinguished ministers under whom that work was 
carried on. 

The Rev. Jonathan Dickenson, of New Jersey, but voices the gen- 
eral opinion when he says, ' 'the subjects chiefly insisted on were the 
sin and apostasy of mankind in Adam; the blindness of the natural 



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man in the things of God; the enmity of the carnal mind; the evil of 
sin, the desert of it, and the utter inability of the fallen creature to 
relieve itself; the sovereignty of God; the way of redemption by 
Christ; justification through His imputed righteousnesss secured by 
faith, this faith the gift of God and a living principle that worketh by 
love; the nature and necessity of regeneration and santification by the 
Holy Spirit; and that without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

Thus did God, ever mindful of His covenant, through His own truth 
and by the power of the Holy Spirit work that mighty work of grace 
whose fruit in many forms still "shakes like Lebanon" and blesses 
our own and other lands. 

Epoch III (19th century). After the "Great Awakening," of 
which we have just been speaking, there came another season of 
declension brought about largely by the French and Indian Wars, the 
Revolutionary War, and the convulsions of Europe preceding and 
accompanying the French Revolution, with all of its blatant infidelity. 
But God in mercy again interposed and gave the Great Revival of 1800, 
extending from about 1790 to 1840. It was felt not only in England 
and Scotland, but reached almost every part of the United States and 
Canada. In our own land, New England and New York, but especially 
Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and the 
Carolinas were widely and deeply moved. 

The time allotted me, and your patience will not suffer me to go 
into particulars, but whether we regard the human instruments 
employed, such as John Newton, Rowland Hill, Andrew Fuller, and 
the brothers, Robert and James Haldane, in England and Scotland, 
with Asahel Nettleton, John Griffen, William Graham, James Turner, 
John Blair Smith, George Baxter and James McGrady, in America, or 
look upon the men then brought to know and accept Christ and in after 
years to become His ascension gifts to His Church, such as Archibald 
Alexander, William Hill, Conrad Speice, John Holt Rice and a host 
of others, loved and honored throughout the Church; whether we con- 
sider the multitudes of changed hearts and homes and the impulse 
then given to Christian and Liberal Education, or the establishment of 
agencies for and increased interest in the work of the Church, this 
revival must be acknowledged one of the richest that has yet occurred. 

Besides the well known doctrinal sentiments of such men as I 
have named we have this further proof how largely Calvinistic 
doctrines entered into the means employed in reaching such glorious 
results. I have examined the testimony of fifteen or twenty ministers 
from different parts of our land and find them concurring with Dr. 
Humphrey in stating that the preaching which held up before men the 
character of God, the strictness, justice and terrible penalty of His 



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law, the entire and dreadful depravity of their hearts, the absolute 
sovereignty of God in having mercy on whom He will have mercy, 
regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and justification by faith alone was 
that which gave tone and character to this revival and was so richly 
blessed of God. Surely these doctrines are Calvinistic enough for the 
most rigid follower of the great German.. 

Other movements have followed in which such doctrines have had 
large share if not so great as in those of which I have spoken. But 
we cannot handle them now. 

Thus, in barest outline, we have traced for you this wonderful 
history. Do we not find that it sustains the assertion made at the 
beginning of this address that no great and real revival was ever 
begun, and maintained without the preaching and teaching of Calvin- 
istic doctrines? In the face of such proofs ought not our faith in 
these grand and awful doctrines to be confirmed, and should we not 
more faithfully use and rely upon them in seeking to do the Master's 
work and to win souls for Him? 

Is not one great need of the Christianity of to-day, as well as of 
the world of perishing sinners around us such preaching, (as Mr. 
Gladstone with his wonted vigor of thought and phrase has recently 
pointed out) such preaching as will emphasize and make clear man's 
real condition as a lost and helpless sinner? With the slight and feeble 
conception of the nature and extent of the desire which now finds 
expression in so many pulpits, is it any wonder that the hurt of the 
people is so slightly healed? "But," says modern taste and usage, 
" leave those dreadful doctrines of the sinner in the hands of a just 
and angry God, and tell us of His love." Yes, most gladly do we 
preach " God is love," but let us beware lest we teach that "Love is 
God." And never, never can we rightly appreciate His unbounded 
love until we learn something of and get the people to learn the real 
nature and consequences of that sin which God hates and His justice 
requires Him to permit, from which in His love He would save us. 

The acknowledged failure of so many pulpits and teachers to press 
these great doctrines is in itself a most hopeful prognostic of a com- 
ing and widespread genuine revival. As in the past, so in the future, 
God will interpose and save His Church from apostasy and the world 
from death by his own truth made quick and powerful through the 
Spirit's presence and power and that truth will be found again, as in 
the past, embodied in the grand old doctrines of Calvinism. 



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Following is the address of Rev. Francis R. Beattie, 
D. D., LL. D., Professor in the Presbyterian Theological 
Seminary of Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky: 

CALVINISM AND CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 

I count it a rare privilege to speak in this place, on this occa- 
sion, and upon such a theme. I beg to thank those whose cordial 
invitation, very gladly accepted, gives me this high privilege on this 
auspicious hour. I dare hardly hope that the performance of the duty 
thus imposed will be worthy the occasion and this audience. 

My general subject is "Calvinism and Liberty, Civil and Religious. " 
First of all the terms must be defined. 

Calvinism is that system of Christian doctrine and life which is 
founded upon the Word of God, and professes to set forth, in 
a balanced way its divine teaching concerning God, man and the 
universe. Its controlling principle is the sovereignty of a holy, wise 
and loving God, ever exercised according to the counsel of His own 
will, and in harmony with the nature with which He has endowed the 
different orders of His creatures. He rules over nature, He directs all 
human affairs, and He works graciously in redemption. As to the 
relations of God and man, both sovereignty and freedom are held, 
though it may not be possible to adjust these two facts at all their 
points of contact. As to man it holds that he was made in God's 
image, but has become apostate from God, by reason of sin, and is 
helpless to save himself either from the guilt or the power of sin. 
His recovery is, therefore, a matter of grace, according to the elect- 
ing purpose of God, which is conditioned, not upon anything in the 
creature, but only upon the secret counsel of God. To make this 
purpose effective Jesus Christ comes to be a Mediator and Redeemer, 
and, by His atonement and intercessions, to make effective the pur- 
pose of grace, according to election, in all the elect. In like manner 
the Holy Spirit is sent to make effectual the work of Christ, in the 
heirs of salvation, so that they are regenerated and united to Christ 
unto their assured salvation. This good work thus begun will be 
surely finished in the case of all of the elect, redeemed, regenerated, 
believing souls. Calvinism has also its ideal for human life and 
society. To live for the glory of God is that ideal, and direct respon- 
sibility of the individual soul to God is emphasized. Its idea of citizen- 
ship also emerges. If the Christian man is a freeman in Christ in 
the Church, and has the right of self-government there, he has the 
like freedom under civil government, another right of self-govern- 



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ment also. Hence Calvinism is a philosophy of the universe, of man- 
kind, of redemption, and of national governments, as such it is all 
inclusive. 

By liberty we mean the right to exercise our powers freely, so 
long as the rights of others are not interferred with thereby. In the 
sphere of government this implies the right of self-government, and 
the duty of protection in the exercise of these rights. In the realm 
of religion this is religious liberty. In the sphere of the State this 
means civil liberty. The former is in harmony with Presbyterianism 
and the latter with representative or republican civil rule. Liberty 
in both spheres is freedom without license, and freedom without 
tyranny. It is the golden mean between these extremes, and it 
balances right and duties according to the divine ideal given in the 
Word of God. 

We are now to try to show the relations between Calvinism and 
liberty at both spheres. In particular we shall undertake to make 
good the contention that no interpretation of the facts of Christian 
religion has done so much or is suited to do as much for civil and 
religious liberties the world over as Calvinism has. It has been con- 
ducive to true liberty in all ages. There are two lines of exposition 
and illustration which naturally open before us. One raises the 
inquiry whether historically the facts sustain this position. The 
other inquires whether in the system itself, there are those features 
which might be expected to generate civil and religious liberty when 
they were wrought out in human life. The former is the his- 
torical and the latter the expository. We follow out each a little. 

I. The Verdict of History. In general it may be said that 
men of Calvinistic principles have fought and won the world's battle 
for civil and religious freedom. The reformed system of doctrine, 
which is the Calvinistic type, and the Presbyterian polity, which is the 
representative form of government, have borne the brunt of many a 
hard fought fight, and in the end have gotten the victory, whether it 
be against civil oppression, or ecclesiastical tyranny. Four great 
examples will fully justify this assertion. 

First, the case of Calvin and Geneva. Prior to the remarkable 
work at Geneva the people were in sore confusion in their civil affairs. 
Then after they had banished him practically for a time, they had to 
send for him to come back to their aid again. After he returned and 
had an opportunity to put into effect his ideas of freedom and civil 
government, Geneva soon became one of the best regulated places in 
all Europe. Neither the tyranny of Rome nor the license of a godless 
government was permitted, and the influence of Calvin spread to 
France, and among the French Calvinists, known as the Huguenots, the 



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same principles of civil and religious liberty spread which did much to 
make France what she was in the days of Coligny, and the darkest 
day for civil liberty in France was the fateful St. Bartholomew's Day, 
when the best Protestant blood, and it was Calvinistic, was shed. 

Secondly, in the Netherlands we have another memorable example 
of the influence of Calvinism on Civil and Religious liberty. This 
little Calvinistic band, not numerous, nor rich in worldly goods, but 
strong in faith and rich in noble deeds withstood and finally baffled 
the proud armies of Philip of Spain, with the power of the Romish 
hierarchy behind him. This story, as told by Motley is more thrilling 
than any romance, and the career of William the Silent, and William, 
Prince of Orange, will never be surpassed in the history of heroic and 
persistent struggle in defense of human freedom. Their struggle not 
only made the Dutch Republic, but did much for freedom in Britain 
and America, and Calvinism was the type of the Christian faith 
which made these heroic and unconquerable men. 

The Puritan struggle in Britain, alike in England and Scotland, 
together with the Revolution in 1688, A. D., is one of the most strik- 
ing proofs of the historic fact that Calvinism tends to secure civil and 
religious liberty. For some time before the Puritan movement took 
definite shape, influences from Geneva and Holland were operating on 
many minds in both England and Scotland, and in the latter country 
the influence of Knox became paramount. Hence it was that ever 
against spiritual tyranny in matters of religion, and civil despotism 
in matters of the state, there came a pronounced revolt. Against the 
divine right of the king it was asserted that the people also had 
divine rights in regard to civil government ; against the absolutism of 
bishops it was claimed that the Christian was a freeman in Christ 
and had a right to a voice in spiritual affairs. Both of these great 
truths are of Calvinistic origin, and when they were wrought into the 
minds of the people of the British Islands and translated into actions, 
absolutism in both Church and State heard its death-knell. What 
the whole world owes to the Puritan struggle can never be over- 
estimated. Our own age lives in the light of the liberties that were 
then won for the people, by the people, in a struggle that was heroic 
indeed. 

The last example from history which we adduce is that of this 
country. This in many respects is but the result of what has already 
been described, for Calvinism, as Froude says, founded the American 
Republic. Men of this type had certainly much to do with laying 
the foundation of the fabric of freedom in the American Colonies, 
and with the origin and successful issue of the American Revolution. 
Huguenots from France, Dutchmen from Holland, Puritans from 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



England, Scotchmen from Scotland, and Scotch-Irishmen from Ireland 
were the men who laid these foundations, and who fought the Revolu- 
tionary War to its finish. Driven by oppression from their native 
lands, and carrying the principles which Calvinism had planted in their 
souls, they found in this wild land a fit home for their planting and 
development. Hence when prelates assumed unlawful authority, 
and the king would tax the people without their permission, they 
resisted. Hence the contest which resulted in a free Church, in a 
free State, in a free land. 

These instances fully establish the fact that Calvinism has framed, 
fought, and won the world's contest for civil and religious liberty. 
Were time taken to draw the contrast between nations which have 
felt its potent power and those that have not, the case would be still 
clearer, and the conclusion more fully seen. Let the Latin races and 
Romish lands in contrast with Anglo-Saxon races and reformed lands 
to-day tell the full story. Calvinistic Protestantism, has ever been 
the potent factor in the story. 

II. The Elemental Causes. We now raise the question as to 
whether there are elements in this Calvinistic system which naturally 
lead to what we have seen concerning its historical effects ? Was it 
merely a coincidence that Calvinism and liberty were joined in Geneva, 
in Holland, in Britian and in America? Or did other agencies than 
Calvinism produce these splendid results? Some brief analysis of the 
contents of the system itself may go to show that Calvinism and 
liberty in Church and State most surely are married together. 

First, the fundamental fact of the absolute sovereignty of God 
had its influence. God was over all blessed for evermore, He was 
ruler of the universe and King of Kings. This carried along with it 
the inevitable conviction that man was responsible first of all, and 
most of all, to God who is high over all blessed for evermore. Men 
controlled by this conviction could not but resist any assumption of 
absolute authority over them on the part of men. The Calvinistic 
system brought the sense of God and duty right into the very lives of 
men, and became theirs to obey God rather than to render slavish obe- 
dience to men against conscience. 

Secondly, for the truly Christian man, the fact of gracious, un- 
conditional election carried with it the same result. When the 
Christian felt that he had been chosen in Christ unto holiness and 
eternal life, there came into his experience a sense of dignity, that 
would not brook oppression. And the Christian realized that he was 
a freeman in Jesus Christ, and had given to him citizenship in the 
heavenly kingdom. Calvinism enfranchizes men with the right of 
self government under God in both Church and State. 



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Thirdly, the high and controlling place given by Calvinism to the 
Word of God and to the right of every man to read it and apply it 
himself further conduced to the fostering of freedom. The authority 
of Holy Scripture, and the right of private judgment by the people 
were potent factors in this direction. The people would refuse to 
bow before human authority if in conflict with the teaching of the 
Word of God. And in the exercise of private judgment therein in- 
volved, the independence of the personality of the Christian man was 
cultivated. Such men were bound to be the Lord's freemen in all the 
relations of life. They were capable of self government, and restive 
under tyranny. Calvinism, more than any other system, has this 
effect, and so was fruitful in freedom in the world for the children of 
men. 

Fourthly, the well defined separation between Church and State 
which Calvinism, more than any other system, makes plain, had its 
influences also, in the same direction. Calvinism caught the meaning, 
of our Lord's teaching about the things of Caesar and the things of 
God. It could, therefore, enjoin both duties without any conflict. It 
refused to allow the Church to lord it over the State and hence was 
inflexibly opposed to Romish pretension. It also declined to admit that 
the State should exercise unlawful authority over the Church, and thus 
it was inevitably in antagonism to all phases of Erastianism. The 
ordinance of civil government the Calvinist taught was of God, and the 
citizen was under this only so far as it did not seek to compel obedience 
which was against the law of God. It taught the great principle that 
God alone was Lord of conscience, which is thus set free from the com- 
mandments of men. Hence civil liberty is secured. The conscience 
is also free from the commandments of men in matters of religion. 
Hence religious liberty is guaranteed. This great principle is one which 
should be dear to mankind even to death to every true liberty loving 
soul. 

Fifthly, the representative form of Church government which 
Calvinism always implies, had much practical effect in fostering 
freedom in Church and State and in making men capable of self 
government in both relations. 

If Calvinism gives the franchise to the people, this means that 
the people shall govern themselves in a properly constituted way in 
both civil and religious affairs. Hence republicanism in State, 
and Presbyterianism in Church are the logical consequences of 
Calvinism. If there be a monarchy, Calvinism will demand that it 
shall be a limited monarchy where the rights of constitutional govern- 
ment are fully recognized. No other type of monarchy will long stand 
before Calvinism. If there be Prelacy in the Church, either that Pre- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



lacy must become greatly modified in its working or Calvinism will be 
crushed out of the creed. Armenianism may stand oppression but Cal- 
vinism never. It will rise in its holy might and divine right, and make 
an end of absolutism everywhere. 

Lastly, the stress laid upon education and intelligence among the 
people by Calvinism has had its influence also. Calvinists have always 
been the patrons of learning and the founders of schools and colleges 
for all the people, The parish school beside the parish church, had 
its potent influence. The catechetical instruction of the young, the 
strong preaching to the adult all fostered a mental discipline which 
made men strong and intelligent, and able to judge for themselves in 
matters of civil interest and religious moment. Such people could 
not remain under mere tutelage to either priest or king. They were 
fit for self government, and would claim the right to possess and ex- 
ercise it. Couple with this that Calvinism has always inculcated high 
ideals of character and conduct, and the force of this consideration is 
all the greater. Calvinism trained the head, it cultivated the heart, 
and it disciplined the life, so that its adherents were bound to be the 
heralds of civil and religious liberty everywhere. Such is but an out- 
line of the subject. 

Such, my friends, is the heritage which has come to us. Let us 
value it at its true worth. Let us ever praise the men who won all 
these liberties for us. Let us ever be mindful of the Providence that 
gave us this priceless possession in this land. Above all let us cherish 
the principles of our historic Calvinism, as so well stated and on our 
standards, and hand this glorious heritage untarnished and enhanced 
to our children and our children's children. 



Note— When delivered, at the Westminster Celebration in Staunton, Virginia, this 
address was spoken from brief notes. After the lapse of five years it is reproduced in 
substance. It is proper to say that much that belonged to the inspiration of the occa- 
sion, and to the freedom of extempore utterance is lost. It is hoped that the substance 
of the teaching of the address is here reproduced in outline ; and that it may be useful 
for its intended purpose.— F. R. B. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The following poem was read by Rev. R. A. Lapsley, 
of Greenville, Virginia: 

THE COVENANTERS— THE FIRST GENERATION RAISED ON THE 
SHORTER CATECHISM 

In the year Sixteen Hundred and Forty-seven, 

A little book to the world was given ; 

The fruit of four years of prayer and thought 

By that Godly Assembly, who earnestly sought 

To put before men within easy reach 

Those truths which the Scriptures principally teach. 

In England, the land where this book saw the light, 
Its hold on the people was short and slight ; 
Not so in Scotland — the highest place, 
In the hearts of men of the Scottish race 
Next to God's Word, was early given 
To this book, born in 1647. 

Nor only in Scotland— wherever on earth 

There's a child of Presbyterian birth, 

Reared in the good old-fashioned way, 

Made to "toe the mark " on the Sabbath day 

And the Catechism thus to say, 

Among those things which he holds till death 

Is his love for this grand old Confession of Faith. 

There are some of us here old fogies enough 

To maintain that there's yet no better stuff 

For building a man, on whom to depend, 

Than "Effectual Calling," and "Man's Chief End"; 

So in place of every modern "Ism," 

We'll stick to The Shorter Catechism. 

And in part proof— I am here to-day, 

To show in this sort of rhyming way, 

The kind of women and manner of men 

That were reared in the homes of old Scotland, when 

This little book first took its place 

In the hearts and homes of the Scottish race. 

You've heard of the Covenanters, who 

Faced danger and death neath the Banner Blue — 

The Banner Blue, on whose silken fold 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



These words were written in letters of gold 

' 'For Christ's Crown and Covenant, ' ' so that all might behold. 

'T was in that heroic generation 

There first began the recitation 

Of the Catechism, which we to-day 

Are teaching our boys and girls to say. 

After Sixteen Hundred and Forty-seven 
When these honored Standards first were given 
The Scottish people, came thirteen years 
Of quiet, free from harassing fears. 
Adopted by Church Courts and Councils of State, 
Taught in every home, both to small and great; 
In those peaceful years this book won its place 
Which the bloody years following could not efface. 

In 1660, the Restoration 

Brought evil times for the Scottish natron ; 

For Oliver Cromwell now was dead 

And Charles the Second reigned instead — 

A king that was cruel, a man that was vile, 

Now sat on the throne of the British Isle. 

Nor were times better when Charles was gone 

And James the Second ascended the throne — 

A bigoted coward, who looked, it is said, 

Unmoved on men's tortures, yet turned and fled 

When battle's red lightning flashed round his own head. 

Ah, then were the days when men's souls were tried ! 

When every foul art of the bigot was plied 

To shake their loyalty to the truth 

In this Confession of Faith set forth ; 

To drive forever from Scottish land 

These symbols now honored on every hand. 

For twenty-eight years the storm rolled on, 
And many a deed of darkness was done ; 
As the sickle cuts down the ripest grain, 
So the best and purest of Scotland were slain ; 
The Confession of Faith and the Catechism 
Received in those years their bloody baptism. 

And here to-day it may be for our good 

To look at some scenes in those years of blood, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Those bitter years when this tree took root 

Of which we now eat the pleasant fruit. 

Let us go for a moment back in thought 

To old Sanquhar town, where a deed was wrought 

Which kindled again to a fiery glow, 

A zeal for the truth, that was burning low. 

'Tis the year 1680, a midsummer's day, 

And a band of horsemen are wending their way 

Into Sanquhar town, and up the street 

To the market cross, where they presently meet. 

Round the market cross they take their stand, 

Each head is uncovered, in every hand 

Gleams a naked sword, then in trumpet tone 

Rings the voice of their leader, Richard Cameron. 

" We here this day make our declaration 

Against King Charles and this whole nation, 

Who have broken faith with God and man, 

And we pledge ourselves to fight as we can 

To bring to an end his wicked reign. 

And in token hereof is now unfurled 

This flag of the kingdom that's not of this world." 

He spake and out on the air there flew 

The silken folds of the Banner Blue. 

Then neath the Blue Banner, with letters of gold, 

This little band, scarce twenty all told, 

Who thus had bidden defiance bold 

To the might of three kingdoms, ride two and two 

Down Sanquhar street and are lost to view. 

But from end to end of the Scottish nation 

Soon is ringing this Sanquhar Declaration. 

******* 

It is thirty days later, again in our sight 
These men of the Covenant, are drawn up for fight. 
'Tis a close July day, and a storm is at hand 
When in dark Ayrsmoss they take their stand, 
And against them comes surging in headlong course 
Bruce of Earlhall's dragoons— four times their force. 

Long and stubborn the fight, in the skies overhead 
The thunder is roaring, the lightnings blaze red; 



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In the dark mist beneath, the muskets are flashing, 
And in deadly encounter, the bright swords are clashing. 
Many a blaspheming trooper is now made to feel, 
Though he mocked at the righteous, the edge of their steel. 

But at length weight of numbers and discipline tell, 

And the last of his band, Richard Cameron fell; 

It is said at that moment the skies blazed in whiteness, 

With a flash of the lightning surpassing in brightness, 

His soul left the body all mangled and gory 

And through the rent heavens passed upward to glory. 

Five cruel years have come and gone, 
Since the death of Richard Cameron; 
It is bright Springtime, the first of May, 
And traveling along the main highway 
Is a troop of horsemen, led by one 
Who in Scottish history stands alone 
Enjoying an infamy all his own. 

And yet as you see him riding there, 

With his long locks of light brown hair, 

Clustering around a face as fair 

As a woman's, holding with gallant air 

The reins of his black steed, Boscabel, 

You'd never think 'twas the work of hell 

He was now doing, and that by the name 

Of "Bloody Claverhouse " he's known to fame. 

Mark him well as he rides along, 
Whistling perchance, a careless song, 
His dragoons following who in their revels 
Were said to mimic the names of devils — 
Now see the light flash in his eye ! 
What kind of game does this eagle spy? 

Not far from yonder cottage door 
Cutting up turf upon the moor, 
Is a man well known the country o'er 
As " The Christian Carrier " — his name, 
John Brown of Priesthill, on this same 
Rests bloody Claverhouse's eye of flame. 

Just one wave of Claverhouse's hand, 

With a word to the soldiers of stern command, 



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Too quick for any thought of flight, 
The dragoons ride to left and right, 
And soon to his own cottage door 
They bring John Brown across the moor. 

Leading their baby by the hand, 
His wife comes out and takes her stand 
Beside her husband, with sickening fear, 
Waiting the end which she knows is near. 

For vanished now from Claverhouse's face 

Is every line of beauty and grace, 

Instead she sees written on every part 

Of his visage the signs of a merciless heart. 

He asks a few questions — among the rest— 

"John Brown, are you willing to take the test? " 

(That impious oath, by all abhorred, 

Who at that time, in Scotland, feared the Lord) . 

The martyr makes resolute answer, "no" — 
"Then, John, to your prayers you had better go, 
For as sure as the sun is in yonder sky 
The hour has come when you must die." 
Picture the feelings, you who can, 
Of that lone, persecuted man, 
As he falls on his knees beside the road, 
And pours his whole heart out to God. 

Only a moment of respite is given 

As the prayers of the martyr go up to heaven, 

Then Claverhouse's voice breaks in — "Enough 

Of this pious, canting, Whiggish stuff, 

Men, let him bid his wife farewell, 

Then take him down in yonder dell 

And shoot him." But not a soldier stirred 

To carry out his cruel word. 

They were hardened men and used to blood 
And deeds of violence none too good, 
But each soldier looked at the woman there 
Herself the picture of mute despair, 
Holding the hand of the little child, 
Who gazed in its father's face and smiled, 
And not a man would be the first 
To obey an order so accurst. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA 



Then all the demon in Claverhouse's soul, 

Broke forth in a rage beyond control; 

"You soft-hearted fools, now every knave 

Of you hopes this cursed Whig to save 

By your disobedience, I'll make you know, 

I'm not the man to be thwarted so!" 

So speaking, his pistol forth he drew, 

Aimed at John Brown, fired straight and true, 

The bullet on its fell errand sped 

And by his own threshold the martyr fell dead. 

Linked forever with Claverhouse's name 

Is the memory of this deed of shame; 

And yet in these degenerate days 

There are not wanting those who praise 

This monster— instead of bloody Claverhouse, 

In sober history, romance and verse, 

This most surprising change you see 

His name transformed to "Bonny Dundee." 

Just as some now are so very civil 

As to speak with high respect of the Devil. 

But one more scene, the foulest crime, 

Of all this bloody "killing time," 

Done in that same year the eleventh of May 

Upon the sands of Wigtown Bay; 

Where the River Blednoch comes pouring down 

Into Solway Firth, near by Wigtown. 

This morning in May the sun shines clear, 
And the banks of Blednoch far and near 
Are black with people, every eye 
Turns to one spot where the tide runs high; 
For there, where the river and sea are met, 
Deep down in the bank two stakes are set. 

To the lowest an aged woman is tied; 
To the other a girl, like a youthful bride, 
Or like a young queen, with face so fair 
And a crown of shimmering, golden hair. 
These two have refused to take the test, 
At Lag of Grierson's stern behest; 
And now by his orders are fastened down 
And doomed in the Solway's tide to drown. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The elder woman first tastes the cup 

Of death. As the Solway comes rolling up 

And fills the Blednoch river bed 

The waters flow over her aged head: 

With unshaken constancy to the last, 

Nor a sigh, nor a groan, 

This ripened saint passed. 

But how does the younger bear the sight ? 

For well may the ghastly vision affright! 

And with set purpose to add to her fear 

One of her persecutors comes near 

The river bank, and with cruel jeer 

Cries, "Ho, Margaret Wilson, what see you there? " 

But with serene courage the girl replied, 

"All that I see in yon cruel tide 

Is Jesus Christ, who my sins did bear, 

In one of His members suffering there." 

But soon her own time comes, the tide 

Now flooding the river channel wide, 

Creeps up to her feet, still rises higher, 

Flows round her waist, to her face comes nigher, 

Begins to lift her golden tresses, 

With deadly, tho' so soft caresses, 

A few more times it will ebb and flow, 

Then above her lips must the salt flood go. 

Then in her extremity out on the air 
Floats the voice of the dying maid, as clear 
As when in the Sabbath's holy calm 
She had sung so oft this same 25th Psalm; 
And these are the words which catch the ear 
Of the weeping multitude far and near: 

' My sins and faults of youth 
Do Thou, O Lord forget, 
After Thy mercies think on me 
And for Thy goodness great. 

Turn unto me Thy face 
And to me mercy show 
Because that I anTdesolate 
And am brought very low. 

O do Thou keep my soul 
Do Thou deliver me 
And let me never be ashamed 
Because I trust in Thee.' 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



—As these last words rang with melodious thrill, 
The sweet voice faltered, choked, and was still. 

Such were some of the scenes of those twenty-eight years 
Whose record is traced in blood and tears. 

That which to-day I would have you mark 

Is this one fact of that period dark, 

That all those Covenanters true, 

Who manfully followed the Banner Blue, 

Both those who fought at Pentland Ridge 

Or at Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge, 

Or who stood with Cameron round Sanquhar Cross 

And died at his side in bloody Ayrsmoss, 

Or like Margaret Wilson and pious John Brown 

For Christ and His truth their lives laid down— 

The eighteen thousand, both women and men 

Who during these twenty-eight years were slain ■ 

These examples of old-time heroism, 

Were reared on the Shorter Catechism. 

The following is the address of Rev. A. R. Cocke, 
D. D., of Waynesboro, Virginia. 

CALVINISM AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 
Fathres, Brethern and Fellow- Presbyterians: 

What is Calvinism? Should we answer that it is the system of 
doctrine taught in the Westminster symbols, our reply would be 
correct. And yet this would not be the best answer that could be 
given. Do you say it is the system of truth formulated in the Creed 
of the Reformed Churches of Europe? True; yet a better definition 
can be found. Then do you say it is the great temple of truth erected 
by the sainted and brilliant Augustine? Again you are correct in 
your reply, but have not expressed it in the best words. Calvinism is 
the system of truth and doctrine revealed by the Holy Ghost through 
the pen of Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. It is the Romans; the 
Ephesians; the Galatians. Calvinism is Paulineism— the system which 
saves a lost sinner by the sovereign grace of an infinite God. The key 
to this system is given in a few words— "Man's chief end is to glorify 
God and enjoy Him forever. ,, 

Foreign missions is essential in this system of doctrine. This 
consecrated daughter is born of the noblest form of truth; she is the 
daughter of the King. Slightly changing Renan's famous sentence 



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we trace her ancestry at one stroke : Jesus Christ begat Paul, Paul 
begat Augustine, Augustine begat Calvin, Calvin begat the system of 
modern missions. The Calvinistic world is at this moment the heart 
and soul of Foreign missions. The relation then existing between 
Calvinism and Foreign missions is that of the truth to practice, the 
impulse to the deed, the seed to the fruit, the cause to the effect, the 
mother to the daughter. 

The Sovereign God of the Calvinist laid in His eternal 
plans the entire scheme of missions. To unfold that scheme is 
but to rethink God's plans. When Johann Kepler found in the theory 
of an elliptical orbit the golden key which unlocked the mystery oflhe 
heavens, unable longer to contain his rapture he cried, "O Almighty 
God, I think Thy thoughts after Thee." The idea of missions is the 
eternal plan of God for the redemption of a lost world; in unfolding to 
men that plan we but recount the thoughts of God's mind and heart. 
The spirit of missions burned in God's heart from eternity. 

Spirit of Missions! Spark of genuine flame! 
In God or man developed, still the same. 
******* 
Ere in the void the firmament was hung, 
Creation's birth ere stars and seraphs sung-, 
Thou hadst Thy being. 

Let us learn the great features of that plan of missions. First: 
An eternal purpose to save His own people out of the mass of a lost 
world. Second: The declared command to evangelize the world — to 
send the gospel to every creature. Third: An adequate supernatural 
power sent along with his messengers; "Ye shall be baptised with the 
Holy Ghost" are his words. Fourth: The result which will at last be 
completely accomplished, viz. : the gathering out of the world a be- 
lieving people, the Church, Christ's Bride. 

These eternal plans of God are beneath our feet when we go forth 
to mission work. Shall we not run with swift and confident feet? 
There can be no doubt as to the final result. The immortal Calvinist, 
Judson, realized this fact and hence never wavered in his assurance of 
the success of missions. In a very dark period when he had toiled for 
fifteen years with only eighteen converts a letter reached him asking, 
"What are the prospects?" He sent back the heroic reply, "Bright 
as the promises of God." His feet stood on the rock of God's eternal 
purpose. 

Dr. Duff, that most fervid expounder of missions found the roots 
of missions in the decrees of God. "The purpose, " says he, "from all 
eternity to create the universe, visible and invisible, for the manifesta- 
tion of the divine glory, the permission of the fall of man, in order that, 



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through the assumption of human nature by the everlasting Son of the 
Father and the sacrificial shedding of His precious blood, myriads of 
the fallen and guilty might be redeemed and exalted to a higher posi- 
tion than that from which they fell * * * the inmeasurable 
antiquity as regards conception and purpose, the elevation and un- 
earthly grandeur of the missionary enterprise," etc.; such are the 
glowing words in which he describes the lofty design of missions. 

In such conceptions as these the spirit of missions becomes a 
mighty and resistless impulse among men. There is no question as to 
consequences: 

He always wins who sides with God 
To Him no chance is lost. 

With this thought in mind Pearson says : "To God's Chariots two 
celestial chargers are yoked : Omniscience and Omnipotence, the rim 
of whose chariot wheels is so high that it is dreadful and full of eyes 
before and behind." Hence does he add (and what an inspiration to 
the Calvinistic Missionary) "To work for and with God is to be 
borne along irresistibly toward the goal of consummate victory and 
final glory." 

Jesus Christ was not only the Great Missionary, but 
placed His own sovereign purpose beneath the scheme of mis- 
sions. In John XV: 16, this is made clear. "Ye have not chosen me but 
I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
fruit." He did not leave it to others to interpret that "go"; He did 
it Himself. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
creature." Thus the eternal purpose is illuminated by His command. 
God's plans are the marching orders of the Church. 

When we undertake mission work we become co-laborers, co-suf- 
ferers and co-witnesses with Christ, the typical missionary. He laid 
aside crown, sceptre and heavenly purple; left the Courts of Heaven 
in sovereign unmerited grace to lift a lost world, dead in trespasses 
and sins, up into the sunlight of His Father's eternal love and favor: 
Well cried a missionary, "Oh what a perfect missionary was He! What 
sermons of love did he preach ! " The path of missions— who first trod 
it? 

Nay, no men mortal first that passage trod, 
The prince of missions was the Son of God. 

The Sovereign Holy Spirit was Christ's first great mission- 
ary to men. Said the departing Christ: "I send you another com- 
forter"; "He shall convince the world of sin, of righteousness and 
judgment to come." He is a sovereign. "The wind bloweth where it 
listeth. " The Acts of Apostles is truly the acts of the Holy Ghost. It is 
the first chapter in the Holy Spirit's Mission work for the world. He 



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appears on the scene and creates Pentecost. He says, "Separate me 
Barnabas and Saul to the work whereto I have called them" — the work 
of missions. He guided Paul in all his wondrous career, now suffering 
him not to enter one province, now leading him from one city to an- 
other, and now leading him from one continent to another. His whole 
work by the hands of these Apostles, especially by the hands of Paul, 
was carried on according to Calvinistic norms of thought. 

All mission work is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; pro- 
vided it is true Foreign mission work. The Holy Ghost sketches the 
widening lines of this world-wide campaign. In the year 328, A. D., 
Constantine, on the site of Byzantium, was in person marking out the 
boundary of the city of Constantinople; his attention being called to 
the vast area he had staked off and the improbability that so large 
a city should ever be built, calmly replied: "I am following Him who 
is leading me." In the same words may every missionary and mis- 
sionary church reply as it maps out the world for mission effort: 
"I am following Him — the Holy Ghost — that leadeth me." 

. Paul, the inspired founder of the Calvinistic system, was 
the great missionary of the ages. Read the Romans, with its 
deep and exhaustive conception of sin and its malignity, its doctrine 
of salvation by pure grace, its explicit statement of the electing love 
of a Sovereign God; now behold Paul's thrilling career as a missionary 
to the Gentiles, tracing his travels among them in lines of light, 
you have beheld cause and effect. The man whose heart and soul is 
on fire with the truth contained in the Romans will not count his life 
dear if only he can carry that great salvation to the nations. 

The author of the Romans, sees the Macedonian vision. Paul is 
upon one of his urgent missionary journeys ; he reaches Mysia and 
essays to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered him not; he reaches 
Troas and there God gives him a vision and a call. He would fain 
stay in Asia— dear old Asia — where the Lord was born, where the 
ground was hallowed with being pressed by his heavenly feet; Asia 
"bright with the memories of Pentecost." The call is to Foreign 
mission work. A man of Macedonia, a man of another continent, 
appears to him saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." In 
that vision Philippi stretched her hands for the bread of life; Berea 
besought the word of God, to them worth more than gold, yea, than 
much fin^e gold; classic, agnostic Athens begged that the true light 
might dispel her darkness; Rome sued for peace with God; savage 
Britain turned its blinded eyes to the coming dawn; America from the 
isles on the east to the golden gates of the sunset in the west strained 
her ear to hear the wing of the angel that bears the trumpet of the 
everlasting gospel. The Macedonian cry was a Calvinistic vision. 



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That Pauline vision was typical and universal. It has been the 
perpetual call to missions; its living symbol. All churches seek here 
its unfailing inspiration for mission effort. This call to duty fails not 
with the ages. Some one has said that the man of Macedonia was a 
composite photograph of every race under heaven. It is a man of Japan 
calling us to take his land, the key to the Orient, for Christ; a man of 
Korea begging that the coming of the Sun of Righteousness may make 
his land indeed the land of the rising sun; a man from the isles of the 
sea asking that they may become by a touch of the gospel, gems for 
Christ's mediatorial crown; a man of India crying in behalf of vast and 
needy millions for the bread of life; a man of Africa, on bended knee, 
petitioning that his submerged millions may yet become "saints carved 
in ebony"; a man of Mexico wishing from the depths of impoverished 
and sin-blurred soul, that the Gospel may make their souls richer than 
their mines and purer and more beautiful than his unflecked skies and 
Eden-like valleys. 

The Pauline or Calvinistic system alone gives an adequate theory 
of missions. First: As regards motive. Paul makes the glory of God 
the chief end of man. God's glory is best subserved in the salvation 
of souls. Calvinism, then, plies men with the chief motive of life as an 
impulse to missions. Love, too, is stronger in the Calvinistic system— 
"forgiven much, loveth also much" — is its motto. To the Calvinist 
sin is the direct evil, hell the deepest pit in the universe, grace the 
sweetest word in the language of God and the holy heaven, to which 
electing love lifts him, the sum total of all felicity. Feeling him- 
self saved with so great a salvation, gratitude causes the flinty 
heart ever to gush in streams of love— the saved one will leave home, 
friends, property and all to take Jesus and his salvation to his lost 
brethren who have never known its glory. It requires a Calvinistic 
view of man's chief end — a Calvinistic fountain of love— to overcome 
all difficulties, dangerous climates, antagonism of the heathen, the 
Prince of Darkness and all his innumerable hosts. Despite all diffi- 
culties, to the Calvinist so full is his heart of love and confidence, that 
the future, "to his exalting expectation, is to be as radiant with 
glory as the sky over Calvary was heavy with gloom— as resplendent 
with lovely celestial lights as to his imagination, if you hold that 
faculty chiefly concerned, was the mount of the Lord's supreme 
ascension. He expects long toil and many disasters, incarnadined 
seas, dreary wildernesses, battles with giants, and spasms of fear in 
the heart of the Church. But he looks, as surely as he looks for the 
sunrise, after nights of tempest and lingering dawn, for the ultimate 
illumination of the world of faith." Second: As regards neccessity 
for the work. The heathen are in supreme need of the gospel. They 



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are lost, they are dead in trespasses and sins, they are "without God 
and without hope in the world. ' ' There is no possibility of salvation 
out of Christ. They must be taught about Christ. "Neither is there 
salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven 
given among men, whereby we must be saved." Calvinism em- 
phasizes this necessity ; other systems weaken its force until men 
conclude that there is no deep need. Calvinism gives a need as deep 
as sin, as terrible as the pit and thus rouses the Church to her duty to 
those who sit in darkness. 

Third: As to the results. No other system gives definite assur- 
ance. Calvinism says all God's people, however vast a multitude 
that may be, will be saved; we have but to preach a pure gospel. 
God cheered Paul in corrupt Corinth with the assurance "I have 
much people in this city. ' ' He was wading in the waters of doubt 
when lo! those words put the eternal rock beneath his feet. How 
often the missionary in the field and the church at home need just 
such a star to guide them. 

Under the Apostle who saw the Macedonian vision and con- 
structed an adequate theory of missions, the missionary impulse 
continued to impel the Church for centuries until at last the night of 
the dark ages quenched the light which Paul had kindled. The night 
rested like a pall over the world; one or two stars relieved its 
darkness. They were Calvinistic beacons assuring God's watchers 
that dawn would come again when the clock of the ages struck God's 
hour. 

The dark ages showed two persistent and heroic efforts 
at missions. The first star shone among the snowy pinnacles of the 
Alps. Moving out from amid its dark gorges and valleys true Calvin- 
ists, whom persecution could not intimidate nor sword deter, carried 
the pure gospel to the neighboring people. "The Israel of the Alps" 
burned in Rome's vindictive fires but could not be consumed. She 
gave herself ceaselessly to spreading the Gospel; even making it a 
rule that every minister must spend at least two years in missionary 
labors. They went two and two all over Italy, into France and far 
into Germany. Whittier has celebrated the work of her colporteurs 
carrying the free Word of God to cottage and palace. Thus the 
humble missionary presses the Word of God on a noble lady: 

O lady fair, I have yet a gem 
Which purer lustre flings 

Than the diamond flash of the jewelled crown 

On the lofty brow of kings; 

A wonderful pearl of exceeding price. 

Whose virtues shall not decay; 

Whose light shall be as a spell to Thee, 

And a blessing on Thy way. 

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Despite tens of thousands of martyrs these Calvinists of the 
Alpine vale and crag, kept alive mission fires for hundreds of years, 
while on other altars lay but blackened and dead ashes. They were 
adamant to the persecutor's coercion but their hearts melted in love 
and hunger for those who knew not the way of life. 

The other star of that dreary night shone above the western 
coast of Scotland. We turn to Iona's Isle, a rugged gem set in a 
boisterous sea. 

Where'Christian piety's soul-cheering spark 
(Kindled from heaven between the light and dark 
Of time'* Shone like the morning star. 

Here was established what might be a missionary seminary 
whence preachers were sent out through Britain, France, Germany 
and Switzerland declaring a pure gospel. These precious agencies 
relieved greatly the night which hung over the sixth, seventh and 
eighth centuries. D'Aubigne says: " Iona, governed by a simple 
elder had become a missionary college." Rome at last crushed this 
protest against her claims and drove the missionaries off the earth, but 
the smouldering fires never died out in many a glen of Scotland, so 
that when the Reformation began to kindle, the hearts of the people 
were already glowing with the truth. Scotland, as a consequence, 
became, next to Geneva, the heart of Protestantism. 

Modern missions sprung up in Calvinistic soil. Coligny 
dreamed of a happy Huguenot France across the seas. He fitted out 
an expedition to establish a strictly missionary colony in Brazil. His 
next step was to apply to Calvin himself for ministers to send out with 
this colony. Calvin responded by appointing Richier, Chartier and 
twelve others to undertake this great work. But sad it is for the 
western world that this promising effort to spread the truth was basely 
betrayed, but it had the glory of heading the list of modern mission- 
ary martyrs. Coligny made a second effort to carry his purpose into 
effect which was this time crushed by the bloody hand of the Portu- 
guese, and the colony in Florida was blotted out of existence. 

Coligny's name appears on the escutheon of the Huguenot Church. 
Never do I see that name of a character purer than the lilies of France 
that I do not wish it could be written in gems. Calvinism with the 
hammer and chisel of the Infinite Artist, shaped his character into 
white marble to endure forever — a precious and enduring monument to 
the Huguenot name of which he was the consummate flower. Let us 
never forget that while pure as snow, his heart was warm and tender 
as that of the Savior and yearned for the salvation of heathen in the 
western world. Coligny's effort was the morning star which heralded 
the glorious day of modern missions. 



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Next we behold flames kindling in Scotland, the most Cal- 
vinistic of all lands. John Knox wrote into the first Confession 
(1560) of the Church of Scotland a text which was a very seed- 
thought of missions: "And this glaid tyding is of the Kyngdome sail 
be prechert through the haill world for a witness unto all natiouns 
and then sail the end cum. " In 1647 the General Assembly recorded 
the gospel desire for ' * a more firm consociation for propagating it to 
those who are without, especially the Jews." 1699 heard the Assem- 
bly enjoining upon the ministers sent forth with the Darien expedition 
to labor among the heathen; a year later the Assembly added: "The 
Lord, we hope, will yet honor you and this Church from which you 
were sent to carry His name among the heathen." This all, logically, 
led in 1709 to the organization of "The Society in Scotland for Propa- 
gating Christian knowledge, ' ' which worked in the Highlands, in 
America, and at a later date, in Africa and India. 

John Eliot, whose Calvinistic energy and efforts caused one to re- 
mark that the anagram of his name was toile, went forth to heroic 
labors among the Indians. Resting on God's plans for missions and 
His purpose thereby to save His people out of all nations, Eliot uttered 
one sentence which has become as immortal as his own name: "Prayer 
and pains, through faith in Jesus Christ, will do anything." What an 
incentive those words are to the missionary! 

Brainerd, who was himself a Calvinist, has a name forever linked 
in idylic romance with the greatest New England Calvinistic philos- 
opher. Jonathan Edwards was his biographer and bosom friend. 
Edwards' daughter with loving ministry soothed his last days while 
that beautiful life was sinking in glory as when 

The weary sun hath made a golden set. 

Many years was he in dying and during those days with quenchless 
enthusiasm he preached the gospel to the heathen savages. The She- 
kinah glory burned behind his thin veil of flesh so that even savage 
eyes beheld its glory and knelt to worship. If you never read any 
other uninspired book, read his memoirs with its thrilling romance 
of mission work. Whole sections of it should be printed in gold. 

William Carey became a great modern apostle of missions. Out 
of his efforts grew the Baptist Society and also The London Missionary 
Society. Presbyterian influences had much to do in the immediate 
organization of the latter society which has done such a world-wide 
work. Of this whole movement Smith, in his "Short History of Mis- 
sions," says : "Nor should we omit to observe that it was Calvinism — 
the doctrines of grace of Paul and Augustine, of Columba and Wicliff e 
— acting against the false or anti-Calvinism which had emasculated 



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the churches, that led the van in the great missionary crusade to 
which Christendom was summoned by a higher reading of the cry 
which Peter the Hermit adopted as his watch word : "God wills it." 
Go, inspire your hearts by reading of Capt. James Wilson, "Who had 
retired in affluence and ease from the East India service," in the 
later years of life sacrificing all and becoming the first volunteer 
missionary of the London Society. Kindle anew the missionary fires 
in your soul by studying the life of Robert Morrison, who started for 
China when it was a sealed kingdom, and who, after twenty-seven years 
of work for them was buried at Macao, and beside him Leang-Afa, the 
first Chinese preacher, and Ako, the first convert. Forget not John Wil- 
liams, who gave himself to the south seas and who in his enthusiasm 
wrote : "For my own part I cannot content myself within the narrow 
limits of a single reef." Think of Robert Moffat in darkest Africa, 
and of Livingstone dying on his knees calling down blessings upon 
every one "who will help to heal this open sore of the world." 
Moffat's memorial obelisk stands in Ormiston, while Livingstone's 
statue graces Edinburg— fitting tributes to two great Calvinistic 
missionaries. 

The Church is the true missionary society. She can delegate 
this function to no individual or society of individuals. It is her own 
heaven-appointed work. The Church of Scotland was the first church, 
as such, since the reformation to send out missionaries, and that under 
the influence of the great Chalmers. Presbyterianism supplies now, 
as in the time of the Acts of the Apostles, just the agency and 
machinery wanted for Foreign missions. The gradation of courts 
from the Session to the Assembly enables the whole Church to act 
directly on the mission fields of the world. This is her glory. 

Our beloved Southern Church realized this important truth. In 
1861, when she was organized, despite the fact that hundreds of 
thousands of soldiers shut in her landward borders threatening inva- 
sion and mighty fleets were already blockading her coast, she 
appointed a committee of Foreign missions and amid her poverty 
began work among the heathen. God has richly blessed her faith in 
sending many mighty men of God into her foreign harvest fields. 
Lane, in apostolic zeal, laid down his life for the gospel in Brazil. 
Lapsley, burning with a Savior's love, forever consecrated Africa by 
mingling his sacred dust with her soil. Mrs. Snider, loving souls 
more than her own life, went to glory from the Congo's dark region. 
What a burst of light for her sainted soul as she entered the gates 
of pearl to look on a Savior's face! There, too, is Shepherd yet 
working with the mighty powers of God for his own race. Happy 
race to have produced such a character! So noble in genuine 



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Christian humility. Forget not, too, that his main equipment for his 
life-work was a thorough study of the Westminster Confession and 
Catechisms — under their mighty influences his character was formed 
and his heart filled with the impulse which has taken him to the 
heart of Africa. 

Let us never lose the impulse to Foreign missions which is 
INHERENT IN Calvinism. If we do, the glory of the Calvinistic 
Churches will have departed and the shadows of a second Dark Ages 
will already have begun to settle over the Church. In Retzsch's 
illustrations of * 'Faust" there is a picture which vividly brings the dire 
result before us. To lay aside our mission zeal will be to turn our 
blessings into curses. In the picture referred to, the soul of Faust is 
contending with the demons who are trying to drag him down into 
the bottomless abyss. Angels from the battlements of heaven watch 
the struggle. Desiring to assist Faust, the angels pluck the roses 
from the bowers of Paradise and fling them down— a mighty shower 
of falling roses— upon the heads of the fiends. When the celestial 
roses reach the air of the pit they are transformed into burning coals 
which burn and blister the demons. Mighty change ! So all blessings, 
though they be the best blooms of heaven, become to the church which 
disobeys the inherent laws of its own nature withering curses. Let 
us not belie our own Calvinism in relaxing our efforts for the salva- 
tion of the heathen. We would sound this warning note in the ears 
of our dear Church like a thunder-peal, the Church that does not take 
up the work of sending the gospel to the lost multitudes of the nations 
practically denies her Calvinistic creed and enters upon a period of 
stagnation and death. 

We lose nothing, but gain everything by our Calvinism. Here is a 
mill moved by a waterwheel. The power is furnished from a small 
stream which at times runs low — very low — almost dry. In such dry 
seasons the wheel runs slowly —if at all. Such is human effort ener- 
gized by less than Calvinistic theories of redemption. Near by the 
mill flows a mighty river, drawn from exhaustless fountains and 
melting snows in the mountains. The miller turns this mighty, steady 
current into his little rill. He has gained the might of the river. The 
Calvinistic view of redemption gains for the Church God's omnipotence 
with which to move the wheels of mission activity. Hence in all the 
ages its zeal for missions has had a firmness, force and fervor to which 
all other systems are strangers. 

This burden of missions which our Calvinism imposes upon us, if 
ardently borne, will become a blessing. There is a legend that God 
first made the birds without wings. They could run on the earth but 
could not soar in sighless songs through the skies. Then he made wings 



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and commanded the birds to take up these apparent burdens and bear 
them. They took them upon their shoulders and folded them over 
their hearts. When lo ! a wonder was wrought. The burdens grew 
fast to their bearers as pinions which bore them heavenward. All 
burdens imposed by Calvinism in its impulse to missions become wings 
to bear Christ's Church upward and onward to the glory of His 
presence. 

The missionary responsibilities which our Calvinistic Creed lays 
upon us are, to use the words of Rutherford, "The sweetest burden 
that ever I bore; it is such a burden as are wings to a bird or sails 
to a ship, to carry me forward to my desired haven." 




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CHAPTER XV 



A SERMON PREACHED BY THE PASTOR, THE REV. A. M. 
FRASER, D. D., SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1904, PREPAR- 
ATORY TO THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

"All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such 
as keep his covenant and his testimonies." Psalm XXV: 10. 

THIS day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. " We 
are on the eve of the celebration of the one hundredth 
anniversary of the organization of this Church. That 
means one hundred years of human worship and service 
and a hundred years of divine blessing; one hundred years 
of human prayer and a hundred years of divine response; 
a hundred years of human doubts and divine guidance of 
human struggles and divine victories; a hundred years in 
which God has been saving souls from sin and death and 
crowning them with glory and immortality. 

Could we gather back here this morning all the sounds 
of worship in this church for the past century, there are 
four formulas of religion which, from the frequent repeti- 
tion of them, would be distinct above all the confusion. 
' 'Child of the covenant I baptize thee in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen! " 
"As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do 
shew the Lord's death till He come"; "I pronounce you 
to be husband and wife. Whom therefore God hath joined 
together, let not man put asunder"; ' 'Earth to earth, dust 
to dust, ashes to ashes. Blessed are the dead which die 
in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow 
them. " These four formulas are the signal stations in the 
lives of all those whose journey heavenward has lain 



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through this place, and each of these formulas is an embod- 
iment of the text, 1 'All the paths of the Lord are goodness 
and truth to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. ' 1 

The text tells us of a blessed relationship to God, and 
of the condition upon which it may be entered. It is not 
said that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to 
all men, but only to such as "keep his covenant and his 
testimonies." All men are divided into two classes, those 
who do and those who do not keep His covenant and His 
testimonies, and it is those who do keep, who find that all 
the paths of the Lord are dropping fatness. Let me ask 
your attention then, first to this condition on which we may 
have this blessed relation to God, and second to that rela- 
tionship itself. 

I. What is it then to keep the covenant and the testi- 
monies of the Lord? 

First: What is the Covenant? Presbyterians ought to 
know. The word belongs to the Bible and it belongs to 
Presbyterian history. We call our children, the "Children 
of the Covenant." We are the heirs, we dwell in the 
tents of the men, some of you are the lineal decendants of 
the men who are known in history as the ''Covenanters." 
Men whose blood flows in your veins, men whose blood 
flowed in the veins of your fathers, who through their 
representatives, Thomas Lewis and Samuel McDowell, 
conveyed to George III their "sentiments of loyalty and 
allegiance." and at the same time their conviction that 
his right to reign rested upon his protection of human 
liberty, and pledged their lives and fortunes to maintain 
their own rights at whatever sacrifice: men whose blood 
flowed in the veins of these your fathers, before ever they 
had left the original home of the race in Scotland, were 
goaded to revolt by the effort of Charles I to wench from 
them their Presbyterian faith and their Presbyterian 
modes of worship and form of church government. There 
was a memorable gathering of them in the Greyfriars' 



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church yard in Edinborough and they prepared an elaborate 
statement of their opinion as to the true faith once de- 
livered to the saints, and bound themselves together by 
the most solemn vows which can affect the human con- 
science to maintain these opinions at any cost. This docu- 
ment they called the ' 'National Covenant/' afterwards 
their ' 'Solemn League and Covenant." One of the oldest 
men among them, a man venerable with age and dignity, 
was the first to sign his name to it. A great number 
signed it, among them were women in a state of exalted 
religious fervor. The whole parchment was covered with 
names. The margin was all written over with signatures. 
Some had only room for their initials. Some had written 
opposite their names the word "till death,' ' and some had 
drawn blood from their own veins and had written their 
names in their own blood. And when called to account on 
the battlefield for the doings of that day, and their banner 
was unfurled, it had this legend inscribed upon it, • 'For 
Christ's crown and Covenant." We ought never to lose 
the inspiration of such memories in our church. We should 
use such incidents as the Israelites used the memorial heap 
of stones at Jordan, as a means of instructing our children, 
that one generation may declare to another the wonderful 
works of God and the heroism of faith He has wrought in 
His saints. And now as we are about to pause to review 
the record of a hundred years and to gather inspiration 
for another term of work, let us use the occasion for 
refreshing our minds as to the meaning of their words 
in the Bible and in our history. 

Our catechism asks the question, "What special act 
of Providence did God exercise towards man in the estate 
wherein he was created?" The answer is, "When God 
created man, He entered into a covenant of life with him, 
upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat 
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon the 
pain of death." That covenant was violated by Adam, 



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and so we have nothing more to do with it. except as it is 
a memorial of divine justice and mercy, and a warning 
against the wasting of opportunities, and except as we are 
the subjects of that estate of sin and misery which the 
breaking of the covenant entailed upon us. Again the 
Catechism asks, "Did God leave all mankind to perish in 
the estate of sin and misery?" The answer is, "God hav- 
ing out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, 
elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant 
of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and 
misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a 
Redeemer." It is this latter covenant, the "covenant of 
grace." announced for the first time in Eden, when our 
first parents had broken the first covenant, repeated to 
Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob and then re-af- 
firmed in another form before the whole host of Israel 
amidst the awful manifestations of the divine presence at 
Sinai, it is this covenant, made with the Son of God, upon 
condition of his obedience and his sufferings to translate 
His people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom 
of God's dear Son. that is the covenant of the Scriptures. 

Second: What is it to "keep" the covenant? To keep 
the covenant one must, of course, be in the covenant. 
How can one keep the covenant who is not in it? But 
simple and self-evident as is this proposition, it antago- 
nizes a specious and deadly error which as much as any 
other characterizes the unbelief of the age in which we 
live. We see it in the prevailing infidelities and in the 
various theological alterations of the day. There is a 
tendency to magnify what have been called the "uncove- 
nanted mercies" of God. God is expected to show mercy 
to men without reference to any atonement for sin and 
apart from all relations to Jesus Christ as a mediator. 
For such mercies God has made no promise and has entered 
into no covenant. 

The infidel will say that God (if there be a God) is our 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Father, and if He is our Father, He must be kind and merci- 
ful, and that therefore we need not be afraid that any of 
those dreadful things are going to happen to us which 
have been represented to be the consequences of sin. He 
will bid men quiet all alarm and live in peace. wise 
man, who told you that God is merciful? You did not 
learn it from creation or from Providence. The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God's almighty power. Every object God 
has made, both in its own structure and in its adaptation 
to its surroundings declares the intelligence of the Creator. 
The pain that follows every broken law proves the justice 
of God. The sunshine and the rain, night and day, sum- 
mer and winter, towering mountains, rushing rivers, fer- 
tile plains, bountiful harvests all alike tell of the goodness 
of God. But where do you learn that God is merciful? 
Who told you that God will forgive sins and receive the 
sinner as a son? At no place in all the illimitable uni- 
verse to which you have access is that aspect of God's 
nature revealed except in the Bible. If you think God is 
merciful, it is because you got the idea from God's revealed 
Word. If you take it from that source you should take it 
as you find it there and not seek to add to it or subtract 
from it. You have not only distorted the idea of divine 
mercy, you have robbed it of its brightest glory, viz: 
' 'That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto him- 
self." There is no evidences of that reconciliation out of 
Christ. 

We see the same thing in the departures from ortho- 
doxy within the Church. In the most famous ecclesias- 
tical trial of this generation, the accused minister in his 
defense, selected three eminent men, one a Rationalist, 
who distinctly disavowed any evangelical faith in Christ, 
another a Romanist and another a Protestant Christian and 
declared that while those three persons had reached the 
knowledge of God in different ways, they had all alike 
attained to that knowledge and were therefore equally 



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acceptable to God. This ignores the fact that it is not the 
knowledge of God alone which brings eternal life. Christ 
said. "This is life eternal that they might know Thee, the 
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent/' 
However sublimated a man's knowledge of God may be, 
and however successful he may be in exceptional cases in 
the effort to be like God. there is always between him and 
God the insurmountable barrier of a broken law and 
unforgiven sin. The first question that confronts the 
sinner as he turns from sin toward God is. "How may I 
have my guilt removed?" The Bible tells us that the guilt 
may be removed and God's mercy secured only through the 
atonement of Christ which forms a part of the "Cove- 
nant of Grace." Jesus said, "God so loved the world." 
And just at that point all the hosts of hell break in with 
such a clamor as to drown the rest of the sentence for 
many people. Satan is willing for men to believe that 
God loves the world if they do not learn too much about 
that love. Satan has that fragment of scripture embla- 
zoned on his banner. He deals in fragments of Scripture. 
He used them ingeniously in the temptation of Jesus in 
the wilderness. It was a partial truth with which he 
deceived Eve in Eden. 1 'Ye shalt not surely die. " he said. 
It is with the same he would destroy men to-day, ' 'God so 
loved the world. " "God is love." "Ye shalt not surely die. 1 1 
"There is no occasion for fear." But what is the state- 
ment of Jesus that has been so mutilated? "God so loved 
the world that"— what? Does he say. "That He offered 
unconditional pardon to all men?" No. "God so loved 
the world that He gave His only begotten Son." And 
why did He give His only begotten Son? Was it that all 
might be saved? No. He gave Him. "That whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting 
life." So the saving benefits of God's love for men come 
to them only through Christ John had laid that same 
truth as the foundation of his Gospel in the opening 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



chapter. "As many as received Him, to them gave He 
power to become the sons of God." When the apostles 
were called to answer for the healing of the impotent man 
and were asked in what name they had wrought the 
miracle, they replied that they had done it in the name of 
Jesus and added, "Neither is there salvation in any other; 
for there is none other name under heaven given among 
men, whereby we must be saved." Paul said to the 
Corinthians, "I determined not to know anything among 
you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified/ ' To the 
Galatians he said, "God forbid that I should glory save in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' ' 

But still the question presses, suppose one is in the 
covenant, what is it to keep that covenant? To answer 
this question let us return to the Catechism. There the 
question is asked, "Did all mankind fall in Adam's first 
transgression?" The answer is, "The covenant being 
made with Adam not only for himself, but for his pos- 
terity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary 
generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first 
transgression." That answer contains the statement that 
the first covenant was made with Adam not only for him- 
self but for his posterity. While the Catechism does not 
bring out this thought with reference to the covenant of 
grace it is nevertheless true that that covenant was made 
with Christ for His people. The Bible speaks of the blood 
of the everlasting covenant, which is the blood of the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The rela- 
tion we sustain to that covenant is that of beneficence. 
And so when the Catechism asks, "How are we made 
partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?" the 
answer is, ' 'We are made partakers of the redemption pur- 
chased by Christ by the effectual application of it to us by 
His Holy Spirit." And when it is asked, "How doth the 
Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?" 
the answer is, ' 'The Spirit applieth to us the redemption pur- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



chased by Christ by working faith in us, and thereby uni- 
ting us to Christ in our effectual calling. ' ' In other words, 
the covenant is between the Father and the Son, the redemp- 
tion is applied to us by the Holy Spirit, and He applies it 
to us by giving us faith Our part in the covenant is to 
receive its benefits by faith— it is to accept, to welcome, 
to embrace, to cherish, to hold. 

This is made plainer by turning the attention to the 
last clause of the text which explains the preceding one, 
"Such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 It is a 
question of accepting the testimonies of God. He has 
wrought out a complete and finished salvation and offers 
to impart it without money and without price to any who 
will accept it. Redemption is a revelation to man of an 
accomplished good which man is by faith to receive on the 
testimony of God. The only co-operation of which man is 
capable is that of yielding himself trustfully to the saving 
influences of the Spirit of God, and yielding his members 
and all the powers of his soul as the instruments of right- 
eousness to be used by the Holy Spirit. 

The venerable Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton, was 
once a guest at a dining, at which a professor of another 
seminary was also entertained. The other professor made 
some supercilious reference to Princeton. Dr. Hodge 
replied, ' 'At your seminary you make the mistake of teach- 
ing young men to think. It was Adam's thinking that 
caused him to lose Paradise. At Princeton we let God do 
the thinking and we teach our students to believe. " It is 
for us to receive what God is pleased to tell and to impart 
— that is, His testimonies/' We receive his testimony as 
to eternal life— his assurance of pardon, and peace, and 
sanctifying grace, purchased by the obedience and blood of 
Christ. It is to receive the commandments of God as to 
the divinely appointed rule of emancipation from sin and of 
attainment of holiness and bliss. It is to receive the prom- 
ises as yea and amen in Christ. It is to receive the adop- 



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tion of sons and a title to the incorruptible inheritance. In 
short, to keep the covenant and the testimonies of God is to 
have faith in the whole revelation of redeeming love and 
lay open the whole nature to that love. 

II. To all such as keep the covenant and the testimonies 
of God, "all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth." 
All of God's dealings with them are in kindness and faith- 
fulness. "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to 
everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteous- 
ness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant 
and to those that remember His commandments to do 
them." "All things work together for good to them that 
love God to them who are the called according to his pur- 
pose." He can confidently affirm, "Surely goodness and 
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." "They 
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. ' ' 

Of course, all this may be contradicted by unbelief. 
Some do not hesitate to say that all their observation of 
Christian experience is opposed to such claims. They 
declare that all things seemed to conspire against the 
Christian, instead of working together for his good. His 
religious scruples deprive him of a great deal that others 
enjoy. They are a tried and suffering people and when 
they come to die they shrink from death. My friend, let 
God's Word complete the picture you are trying to draw. 
"Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, * * 
others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, 
moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, 
they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with 
the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goat- 
skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the 
world was not worthy) , they wandered in deserts, and in 
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." "Tribu- 
lation or distress, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, 
or sword" are probably their lot and sometimes they cry, 
"For thy sake, we are killed all the day long, we are 



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accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' ' Jesus prophesied 
that persecution would come to His people and the 
prophecy has been literally fulfilled. The paths of the 
Lord have often seemed to be paths of blood instead of 
paths of mercy and trudi. Such bloody trails lay through 
the Roman Empire, through France, through the Wald- 
densian Valleys, through Spain, through the Netherlands, 
through Smithfield, through the mountain fastnesses 
where were the homes of your forefathers, through 
Armenia and China in our own generation. Those ' who 
have come out of great tribulation' ' will be a large and 
conspicuous host in Heaven. The wicked, on the other 
hand, seem to be immune. They are not troubled as other 
men are, and when they die they have no bonds in their 
death. But when we acknowledge all these facts they do 
not really conflict with the statement that "all the paths 
of the Lord are mercy and truth" to His people. To show 
the absence of conflict, Jesus combines them in a single 
statement, "These things have I spoken unto you, that 
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have 
tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the 
world." "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory." "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." When God 
promises immunity from evil and the giving of every 
blessing, He does not mean that we shall not suffer or that 
we shall live in the lap of luxury. Sometimes the Chris- 
tian's sufferings are the richest part of his inheritance, 
because they are an instrument of sanctification to him. 
As it is the rich man who can afford to pay for the sur- 
geon's knife, so it is the heir of God who can afford the 
blessings of sorrow. When Paul asks "Who shall separate 
us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or 
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" 
He answers "Nay, in all these things we are more than 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



conquerors through him that loved us." It is in and by 
these very things that we are exalted to be ' 'more than 
conquerors." 

Gather back all the dead who have worshipped here 
these hundred years — from yonder cemetery, from the 
battle fields of the South, from distant homes. Ask them 
if they made any mistake in embracing the benefits of the 
covenant or accepting the testimonies of God, and there 
will not be one regret expressed. Ask them if from their 
present point of view they regard one single experience of 
earth as a real evil and they will answer with Paul, ' 'Nay 
in all these things we are more than conquerors. 1 ' 

Give me the wings of faith to rise 

Within the veil, and see 
The saints above, how great their joys, 

How bright their glories be. 

Once they were mourning here below, 

And wet their couch with tears; 
They wrestled hard, as we do now, 

With sins, and doubts, and fears. 

I asked them whence their victory came, 

They, with united breath, 
Ascribed their conquest to the Lamb, 

Their triumph to His death. 

Wise, venerable, servants of God! Simple hearted, 
pure minded, grand old people! Loving, laboring, suffer- 
ing sants! God rest you, and crown you unto the ever- 
lasting ages! 

In nothing has the goodness of God to His people been 
more manifest than in the fact that He allows them to be 
co-workers with Himself in spreading the blessings of the 
Gospel. God said to Abraham, "I will bless thee and thou 
shalt be a blessing," and in effect He says the same to 
every Christian. Whoever is blessed of Him becomes a 
blessing to others. In proportion as he is blessed does he 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



become a blessing to others. This, too, is illustrated in 
the history of this Church. God blessed Tinkling Spring 
and the Augusta Stone Church, and they planted this 
Church. He blessed this Church and there went out 
from it the Second Church, Staunton; and Olivet Church. 
It reaches out its hand to bless the spiritually destitute 
in the mountains of West Virginia. It has its represen- 
tatives in China, in Korea, in Brazil, in Darkest Africa, 
going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every 
creature. 

A few years ago, while riding with a friend along one 
of the beautiful country roads which so adorn this Valley, 
our drive for half a mile lay along the brow of a hill over- 
looking a charming valley. A shower of rain had just 
passed over it and made doubly beautiful the fresh green 
of early spring. Fields of wheat and corn and meadow 
grasses climbed high on the hillsides all around, and the 
hill tops were fringed with forests. There was a sound of 
rushing water from below and the air was full of the 
music of birds. While we gazed and admired the scene, 
a light cloud gathered over the little valley and a misty 
rain began to fall. Presently a beam of sunshine shot 
through the higher clouds and lit up the whole cloud below 
and the falling mist, turning them to the whiteness of snow. 
So filmy was the falling mist that through it we could see 
the mountains beyond, rising tier above tier like a great 
stairway to the sky, carpeted in living green and bathed 
in softened sunlight. I thought this is like the garden of 
the Lord and a field which the Lord hath blessed. Where 
He commands the blessing there is life f orevermore, sweet 
fields arrayed in living green and rivers of delight, and 
everything that hath breath shall praise the Lord. Over 
all is the clear shining of divine love and through it all the 
sun-lit hills of glory. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for- 
ever. 

Let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy 
endureth forever. 

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that 
keepeth thee will not slumber. 

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber 
nor sleep. 

The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon 
thy right hand. 

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by 
night. 

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall 
preserve thy soul. 

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming 
in from this time forth, and even for evermore. 

Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within 
thy palaces. 




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CHAPTER XVI 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH, STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, OCTOBER 
26 TO 30, 1904 

ON the above dates was celebrated the one hundredth 
anniversary of the organization of the Church, the 
following being the program of the exercises, with 
the addresses delivered: 

Wednesday, October 26th: 
11.00 A. M. — Introductory statement and address of 
welcome by the chairman of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, Dr. George S. Walker. 

Opening sermon by Rev. W. E. Baker. 
7.30 P. M. — Historical sketch of the First Presbyterian 
Church, Staunton, Virginia, by the Hon. Jos. A. Waddell. 
Thursday, October 27th. 
11.00 a. m.— Introductory remarks by the Rev. R. H. 
Fleming, D. D. who will preside over these exercises. 

Sketch of Tinkling Spring Church by the Rev. G. W. 
Finley, D. D. 

Sketch of Hebron Church by the Rev. Holmes Rolston. 

Sketch of the Second Presbyterian Church, Staunton, 
Virginia, by the Rev. W. N. Scott, D. D. 

Sketch of Olivet Church by the Rev. E. B. Druen. 

Reception and lunch after morning services in the 
ladies ' parlors to friends from the country, all of whom 
will be cordially welcomed. 

8.00 P. M. — An evening in the old church. 
Friday, October 28th. 

11.00 A. M.— Sermon by the Rev. J. W. Rosebro, D. D. 

8.00 P. M.— Reception in ladies' parlors. 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Saturday, October 29th. 

11.00 A. M.— Address on " Beginnings of Presbyter- 
ianism in Virginia," by the Rev. James P. Smith, D. D. 
Sunday, October 30th. 

11,00 a. m.— Administration of the Lord's Supper by 
the Rev. W. E. Baker. 

3.30 P. M.— Address to the children by the Rev. W. E. 
Baker. 

7.30 P. M.— Closing sermon by the Rev. W. W. Moore, 
D. D. 

The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the First 
Presbyterian Church began here yesterday morning at 
11 o'clock before a large audience in the large edifice of 
that congregation. The choir had made special prepara- 
tion, for the music and the singing was a delightful feature 
of the opening of the celebration. After singing and 
devotional exercises in which the pastor, Rev. A. M. 
Fraser, D. D., and other pastors of the city took part, 
Rev. R. C. Jett, of Emanuel Episcopal Church, reading 
a Psalm and Rev. Isaac W. Canter D. D., of the Central 
Methodist Church, offering a prayer, Dr. George S. Walker, 
a ruling elder in the Church, and chairman of the com- 
mittee of arrangements, stated the plans and purposes of 
the meeting. 

Dr. Walker said: 

As chairman of a committee, and on behalf of this Church, it be- 
comes my duty, as well as my privilege, to extend a hearty welcome 
to all of our guests, and a cordial invitation to all of our Christian 
friends present to participate with us in this celebration; and also to 
explain to you the object of this meeting. 

Over one year ago, at a joint meeting of the elders and deacons of 
this Church, it was suggested by our pastor, Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. 
D. , to hold a memorial meeting to celebrate the one hundredth anni- 
versary of this Church, the First Presbyterian Church, of Staunton. 
The suggestion was cordially acquiesced in, and now the time has 
arrived. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



I will say it is not our purpose to make a display, or claim undue 
prominence or notoriety. It is our desire and that of all who partici- 
pate with us, to manifest in a suitable manner our gratitude to a kind 
Providence which has so wonderfully blessed this Church since its 
organization, and by such interesting and instructive services to excite 
renewed interest in the glorious work of our Savior. 

What may be said of this Church applies equally to all other 
churches, and not only to our particular denomination, but to all 
organized, orthodox, Christian Churches throughout the world. In 
contemplating the history of this Church, it not only gives us satis- 
faction to recall the heroic deeds and Christian fortitude of the good 
men and women who have been the instruments in this work; but also, 
although extending back only comparatively a short space — 100 years 
—in comparison with the time when the first Churches were organized, 
it directs our attention to the fact that the Christian Church, by the 
direction and sanction of an all-wise and merciful God, has not only 
stood as firm as a rock, but has steadily increased and multiplied. 

Again when we consider the trials and persecutions through which 
the Christian Church has passed, and which it has survived, it is a 
strong evidence of its Divine origin, and not the creation of human 
device. 

You are already acquainted with the program, so it will not be 
necessary for me to say more in the beginning, than that our brother, 
Mr. Joseph A. Waddell, one who is eminently fitted for the task, hav- 
ing been an active member of this Church for years, and whose an- 
cestry dates back to its beginning, has kindly consented to give a his- 
tory of this Church. I am also glad to say our Church is unencum- 
bered — that as a preparation for this occasion it has paid off all 
its debts. 

Again I will remind you that this also is practically a family 
reunion, as you will observe that the participants in these exercises 
as far as could be arranged, have been or are directly or indirectly 
connected with this Church. For example: The first sermon will be 
preached by Rev. W. E. Baker, who was the beloved pastor of this 
Church for quarter of a century; Rev. J. P. Smith, D. D., the able 
editor of The Central Presbyterian, is a son of a former pastor; Rev. 
J. W. Rosebro, D. D., married a daughter of a former pastor; Rev. 
W. N. Scott, D. D., Rev. G. W. Finley, D. D., and Rev. Holmes 
Rolston and Rev. E. B. Druen are now pastors of churches, whose 
history or organization were connected with this Church. 

I will now turn over the further direction of these services to our 
pastor, Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



At the conclusion of Dr. Walker's remarks the pastor 
introduced Rev. W. E. Baker, former pastor of the 
Church, who had come from his home in Georgia to take 
part in these Centennial exercises. Mr. Baker began his 
labors as pastor of this Church December 1, 1857, was 
installed as pastor April 23, 1859, and resigned his charge 
in 1884, thus serving the congregation twenty-seven 
years, or more than one-fourth of the time since the 
Church was organized. 

Mr. Jett, representing the Ministerial Association, then 
spoke expressing the interest of all the preachers in the 
city, in the Centennial, and their pleasure at Dr. Fraser's 
remaining in Staunton. —Staunton Dispatch and News 
October 27, 190J>. 



OPENING SERMON, BY REV. W. E. BAKER 

[To the Pastors Present:] 

Welcome, Brethren, to participation in these services with us. 
We don't believe in falling from grace, but we believe in Methodists. 
We don't believe in immersion, but we believe in Baptists. We don't 
believe in confirmation, but we believe in Episcopalians. We are 
noted for magnifying the law of God, so are you, and therefore it will 
suit us all to consider the text. 

ROMANS 3:20; "By the law is the knowledge of sin." There is a 
vague impression among men that they are sinners; like the impression 
in regard to the internal revenue system, or as to what is necessary 
to bodily health; but such an impression falls far short of knowledge. 
The public are aware in the general that tobacco manufacturers are 
required to pay certain taxes, but those engaged in the business must 
have definite information. The use of a cancelled stamp, or of an 
already emptied package, may subject them to a heavy penalty. 

So the knowledge of sin is necessary in order to accurate obedi- 
ence, and accurate obedience is fully as important in dealing with 
divine, as with human authority. God's government is not weaker or 
laxer than man's. He is merciful, but not careless. The sinner is not 
let off any more than the forger, because he meant no harm. Our 
obedience is always imperfect, but it must not be inaccurate. The 
priests of old, Aaron and Eli, were imperfect, but they soon learned 
that to be accurate was indispensable. Nadab and Abihu offered 
strange and uncommanded fire before the Lord, and there went out 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



tire and devoured them. Uzzah put forth his hand to stay the ark, 
and he dropped deadbe cause of his willful error and ignorance of the 
law. 

There must be definite and precise knowledge therefore, of the law 
of God and of the sin which consists of any want of conformity unto, 
or transgression of it. In such knowledge alone is there safety and 
freedom from alarm. The man who touches the highly charged wire 
is killed instantly, and the crowd around flee in terror, as the crowd 
fled from the ark at Perez-Uzzah, Obed-Edom alone was fearless, 
because enlightened, and he joyfully received the object of the peo- 
ple's terror into his house. So the skilled electrician does not partici- 
pate in the general alarm at the smell of burning flesh because he 
knows exactly when to touch and where to touch. And the experi- 
enced engineer is no more terrified by the bursting and death-dealing 
steam than the experienced Christian is terrified by the destroying 
earthquake or pestilence. God and His mighty agents act according 
to law, and all that we need in order to safety is knowledge. 

And let us not imagine that there is any general amnesty which 
renders such knowledge unnecessary— that the pardon of our sins 
removes all occasion for the consideration of them. The pardon, we 
should remember, is always preceded by the trial, and is never 
issued until the question of guilt is settled. To pardon before trial, is 
to give license to every man to sin as he pleases and without restraint. 
We have nothing therefore, to do with pardon at this stage of the 
legal process against us. Our business now is to go into court and 
hear the charges of the prosecutor, and see that our case is well 
presented. We must have knowledge, therefore, and all the knowl- 
edge we can get. and this knowledge, according to our text comes 
' 'by the law. " 

First: The law distinguishes— shows what is right and what is 
wrong. Heathen communities have very erroneous ideas as to 
morals. Every possible crime is justified in some one or other of 
them. Even among nominal Christians many approve what God 
condemns. True, we are endowed with conscience and a sense of 
what is equitable, but this is not enough. The laws of the State are 
intended to be equitable, but an equitable man cannot tell what they 
require, unless he reads them. Conscience cannot decide when a title 
to property is perfect. Moreover, the law strengthens conscience by 
its defmiteness. The yard stick is a powerful aid to honesty. It is 
harder to cross the line between good and evil, if we know exactly 
where it is. When a man is perfectly certain that a thing is wrong, 
he is not so apt to do it. and he is more seriously disturbed when he 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



does do it. We would have more carefulness in conduct, if every 
forbidden spot had a red mark around it, and every forbidden pleas- 
ure were labelled poison. 

Secondly: The law not only spreads its statute book before us, 
but it provides for the delivery of a special charge. The statute 
book may not be familiar; it may, in part, be intended'for a' different 
time and place; some of its provisions may be thought obsolete, and 
it may be a question whether they will be enforced; the whole seems 
in a measure powerless and dead, and does not, like the charge of the 
living judge, bring home our offenses to us. This charge calls 
attention to what is present and actual; puts us on notice of what we 
may expect, and makes every offender within hearing tremble. 

The charge of the human judge, at the opening of the court, sug- 
gests to us that other charge which the Judge of all the earth makes 
by His Spirit to every sinner. True, this latter has not yet taken His 
seat on the great white throne of final judgment, but as the Christ was 
present before his birth, by anticipation in the angel of the covenant, 
so the Judge is present now by anticipation through His represen- 
tative, the Holy Spirit. This representative is come; is present among 
us; and it is His office work to convince the world of sin. His agency 
transmutes the dead law into a living charge, and as He reasons of 
righteousness, temperance and a judgment to come, the guilty con- 
science trembles at the sound. 

Thirdly: The law indicts. Transgressions of human law are 
very common, and do not always affect ones standing in the com- 
munity. Almost every one trangresses at some point, and we do not 
cease to have confidence in persons, because of such delinquency. But 
when I write for the character of a proposed agent to attend to some 
business for me in a distant part of the country, and the county clerk 
replies that that man is under indictment by the grand jury, for larceny, 
to be tried at the next term of the court, I drop him at once. The 
rumors that have come to me, about the man may be favorable; he 
seems no worse than many others, and no more guilty than he was be- 
fore the indictment, but the official word outweighs every minor 
consideration. 

So when the grand jury of the sixty-six inspired books of the Bible, 
agree in bringing an indictment against a man as a sinner, the case 
begins to appear much more serious than was first supposed. And 
yet this is the legal status of every sinner here. Judicial process has 
various stages, and he is at the stage of indictment. The statute 
book has been spread open, the charge delivered, and now the indict- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. STAUNTON, VA. 



ment has been found, and the trial is to come off. at the next term of 
the court, the only and the final term, the grand assize of the judg- 
ment. 

Fourthly: The law arrests. When a citizen of high standing is 
served by the officer of the court with a warrant, giving information 
that he has been indicted fv*r some offense, which he had forgotten, or 
had hoped was unknown to others, he sinks at once into a weak and 
miserable culprit. Thus it was in the case of Paul, a citizen of the 
highest standing among his fellows, who said, giving his own experience, 
"when the commandments came, sin revived and I died." When the 
offense forgotten, or supposed to be unknown, was presented to him 
in the form of an indictment, officially served, he was conscious of a 
collapse that was like death itself. Now the law of God comes to you 
this day, sinner, and bids you consider yourself under arrest. Men 
under arrest, you know, are not always imprisoned. Their circum- 
stances may as effectually prevent their escape as bolts and bars. There 
is no danger that you will escape. You are in prison where you are. 
The whole world is a prison to one whom God arrests. Though you 
ascend into heaven, or make your bed in hell, though you take the 
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, your 
keeper remains still just beside you. 

Consider yourself then under arrest. You had forgotten perhaps 
your offense, but there is the exact description, copied from the 
records of the court. The charge against you, is not mere current 
rumor, or private opinion, but in official form, proceeding from an 
authority that is fully responsible, that is ready, in thus joining issue 
against you, to take all risks of insult and injury from you and yours, 
and that is solemnly pledged to follow up the case, through all the 
stages of trial, to ultimate condemnation. 

Fifthly: The law particularizes. No suit is ever brought against a 
man because of his general bad character. No one is ever put on trial 
for being a thief unless there are specifications — unless he has stolen 
some particular thing, at some particular time, from some particular 
person. So, you cannot be a sinner in general, unless you are a sinner 
in particular. You cannot be a sinner, unless you have broken some 
one of the commandments, and if you are not a sinner, this house of 
mercy is no place for you. and Jesus is no Saviour for you. seeing that 
you do not need Him. 

If, then, you are a sinner, single out and fix your attention upon 
some one of the commandments which you have broken, and upon 
some particular instance of the breaking of that commandment. 
Take the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal." What did you steal? 
From whom? At what time and place? Or let it be the ninth in the 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Decalogue. Recall some instance when you bore false witness against 
your neighbor. Who was that neighbor? What were your slanderous 
words against him, and where were you when you uttered them? 
These interrogatories I put not to witnesses, but directly, as is the 
usage of the courts of some countries, to the prisoner at the bar, If 
you have forgotten and are unable at once to reply, a little cross- 
examination may make the matter plain. Have you, then, in any way 
encroached upon your neighbor's interests? Have you inordinately 
desired the good things of this world? Have you been envious at 
the prosperity of others? Have you yielded to anxiety about your tem- 
poral support? These are four of the twenty-seven specifications, 
under what is forbidden in the eighth commandment. Or, have you 
been silent when iniquity called for reproof? Have you opened your 
mouth maliciously in speaking the truth? Have you been rash and 
hasty in censuring? Have you countenanced evil reports? These 
offenses are but a sample of the forty-nine ways in which the ninth 
commandment may be broken. 

Hear, then, the summing up against you. You cannot deny that 
you are sinners in the general. You have confessed it a thousand 
times and are not allowed to take back the confession when the trial 
comes on. True, we find men confessing with one breath, and denying 
with the next. When in the presence of sympathizers, or in the circle 
of fellow sinners, they say without reserve, "0, yes, we are all sinners, 
of course," but when in the presence of those who condemn and where 
the commandments of God are urged, they wipe their mouths in self- 
satisfaction, and say, "All these have we kept from our youth up." 
They confess, when there is no fear of legal proceedings, yea, glory in 
their wildness, in their triumphs over virtue, in their sharp trading, in 
their evasion of the law, but the moment they are overtaken by indict- 
ment and arrest, they subside, and the prudent lawyer bids them close 
their mouths. So, the wild young fellow in college, glories in chicken- 
stealing, among his boon companions of the midnight supper, but 
when his father of legal education and standing assumes a tone of 
severity, and tells him that what he speaks of so lightly, is a peni- 
tentiary offense; ah, then, of course, he had nothing to do with the 
theft; that was committed by the others. 

Now suppose that when a man was on trial for alleged fraud in 
business, every idle word among his partners and confederates, should 
be before the court and admissible as evidence; how soon would that 
man be covered with confusion? Such confidential and careless utter- 
ances, cannot and may not be brought up, in the case of the human 
tribunal, but it is different in the case of the tribunal that is Divine. 
For, we are distinctly assured, that all the loose and light talk of men 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



about their successful roguery, is to come up in the final testimony 
against them. "For I say unto you, that for every idle word that 
men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of 
judgment." 

What then, my hearers, can you say, or how will you clear your- 
selves? You have confessed that you are sinners in the general and, 
therefore, cannot deny that you are sinners in particular. You have 
broken the law of God as a whole and, therefore, cannot deny that you 
have broken the separate commandments: "Thou shalt not kill; steal; 
commit adultery; bear false witness; dishonor father or mother." You 
are guilty with regard to many of the specifications under these sepa- 
rate commandments and, therefore, cannot deny that you are guilty 
with regard to the main charge. 

It is often the case that the prisioner or the witness breaks down 
under the terrible examination and cross-examination of the prosecutor. 
If there ever was a case for inevitable breaking down, it is that of the 
sinner under the terrible examination and cross-examination of the word 
and spirit of the heart-searching God. 

Sixthly: The law exposes. As long as a delinquency is not made 
a subject of judicial investigation, there is more or less of restraint in 
speaking of it. The people whisper their thoughts, and the newspa- 
pers only hint. The moment, however, the law touches it, all restraint 
is removed; the name of the party, his family, circumstances, his pri- 
vate life is divulged and published throughout the world. All this re- 
sults from the fact that the law is essentially public, and its procedures 
and investigations are so also. Its first step always is to impale and 
hold up the act of transgression before the eyes of all men. And 
herein largely consists its power and the salutary awe with which it 
is regarded. 

So the law of God produces knowledge of sin by revealing it when 
secret and exposing it upon the housetop. Not indeed that we are to 
confess at once everything to our fellow men, for that would bring 
ruin and chaos and turn the preliminary into final judgment. If, my 
hearers, the true character of every individual in the best church in the 
land were known, and every word that every member had spoken in 
twenty-five years against every other member were published, that 
church would be torn into atoms, and no two persons in it be left in 
friendly relations to each other. 

While however, we are not at present for good and sufficient, 
reasons, to reveal our shame to those around us, our case is really 
more distressing than this. To confess to others, who know little of 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



us, care and think little about us, and can do us little of good or evil, 
what is that to confessing to one always at hand and whose good 
opinion is absolutely necessary — in other words to self ? 

Multitudes have reeled and blurted out their oaths on the street, 
who yet have never acknowledged to themselves that they were 
drunkards and blasphemers. That a man may be atrociously wicked, 
and yet entirely ignorant of the fact is unquestionable. And so abso- 
lutely necessary is the good opinion of self, to preserve from utter 
despair, that a man would surrender the good opinion of every creature 
on earth to retain it. He would rather that the whole world should 
see his wickedness than take a look at it himself. 

But more distressing still is the fact that you are to confess, not 
to accomplices and sympathisers not merely to partial self, but to One 
infinitely holy and just, in whose hands your breath is and whose are 
all your ways. 

Men think it easy to confess to God, because they do not realize 
God. Confessing to Him seems like putting their lips up against a stone 
wall or pouring out their words to the wild ocean. Multitudes of 
persons, the most refined and delicate ladies, communicate every mean 
and vile and filthy detail of their heart and life to the ears of the 
priest, who have never yet been willing to reveal a single word of 
their iniquity to God. 

Even exposure, however, becomes a trifle, when the sin itself 
begins to sting. No man or woman ever had a thought about dress in 
the torture chamber, and so when the law of God begins to reveal our 
sin, showing the particular spot, whence the dull general pain proceeds, 
and thrusting its keen point into the diseased nerve, the agony result- 
ing at once banishes all concern as to how we appear to others. 

Seventhly: The law condemns. Condemnation by individuals is 
very common. You and I have, no doubt, been condemned a hundred 
times by those around us, and it hasn't disturbed us very much. 
Every one in the church condemns some of their fellow members; 
but it is very different when the church authorities in their official 
capacity, pass sentence upon an individual. The sentence may be a 
mild one, but it burns like a charged electric wire. 

The tremendous power of such a sentence, arises from the con- 
viction in us, that condemnation, like forgiveness, is a prerogative of 
God alone. 1 'Who art thou that judgest thy brother, or condemneth 
another man's servant?" Human courts are multiplied, because it 
takes a long time for the morally blind to see the difference between 
the rogue and the honest man, and they have a real authority to 
condemn only so far as they are divine ordinances. The weight of 
the sentence in every case depends upon the certainty of its emana- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



tion from the great and righteous God. And this condemnation is not 
of sinners as a class, or of the race as a race. Condemnation always 
relates, and can only relate to individuals. When a rebellious 
province is conquered, it is not admissible to pass sentence upon the 
whole population. Each individual must be tried and treated sepa- 
rately. A superior ecclesiastical court can never sit in judgment 
upon the personel of an inferior, but only upon its official acts. To 
pass sentence upon a class, an organization, a majority or minority, 
would violate the most fundamental principles of justice, and, at once, 
raise a storm. Each individual must first be tried by regular judicial 
process. God condemns sinners as He saves them, one by one, and the 
plea of the penitent always is, "have mercy upon me." The charge is 
not against you in common with others, no name but yours appears in 
the indictment; no other offender is associated with you, to divide the 
guilt, or help you bear the shame. 

Finally the law affixes a penalty to the sin, and we rate the sin by 
the penalty. We speak of a penitentiary offense. If there is no 
penalty in the popular judgment, there is no transgression. If the 
punishment is capital, the transgression is capital. Our knowledge of 
sin therefore is greatly increased when we learn that it bringeth forth 
death. Moreover the very idea of penalty is a startling one, making 
the difference between dying on the gallows, and in one's bed. Oh, 
the awful majesty of the law of God! What a volume of statutes it 
spreads before us; how terrific the charge which it brings from the 
Judge of all; how alarming the indictment which it finds against the 
sinner, how hard the hand of its arrest, how penetrating its examina- 
tion, and pitiless its exposure; how mercilessly it condemns, and how 
overwhelming is its penalty, 

Much is said about the law's delay, yet every case must come to 
trial sooner or later for after death is the judgment. "And I saw a 
great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth 
and the heaven fled away." "And I saw the dead, small and great, 
stand before God, and the books were opened, and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according 
to their works. ' ' 

How shall we appear, my brethren, on that day? How are we to 
endure the siftings, the exposures, the light flashing in upon the 
secrets of bye gone years, the revelation of deeds of shame? 

Let us commit our cause to the great Advocate of sinners, and 
then when the final trumpet calls us to the bar, we shall hear His 
mighty voice pleading in the hushed assembly on our behalf, while we 
in the back ground rivet our gaze upon His glorious form, and draw life 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and hope from His matchless words. Yes, it is our only chance. "If 
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Christ the 
righteous." 

Mr. Baker closed by reciting in the most impressive 
manner, that great old hymn of the penitent, a version of 
the 51st psalm: 

Show pity, Lord, O Lord forgive, 
Let a repenting rebel live. 
Are not Thy mercies large and free, 
May not a sinner trust in Thee? 

THE CENTENNIAL ADDRESS OF HON. JOSEPH A. WADDELL DELIV- 
ERED IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OCTOBER 26, 1904. 

At Wednesday night's exercises, after short religious 
service, Hon. Joseph A. Waddell sketched the history of 
the First Presbyterian Church as follows: 

We have no picture or particular description of Staunton, in the 
year 1804, a hundred years ago, but we may safely say that it was a 
shabby village. It was founded about sixty years previously on the 
frontier of civilization, when the war-whoop of Indians was some- 
times heard in the vicinity. The number of inhabitants was probably 
from eight hundred to a thousand. The dwellings and other houses 
were clustered around the court house and near several springs which 
flowed into Lewis' Creek. A postoffice was installed here in 1793, and 
the relative importance of the place may be inferred from the fact 
that in 1789 the number of offices in the whole United States was only 
seventy-five. Staunton and Winchester were the first towns in the 
English possessions west of the Blue Ridge. The only house of 
worship in town, in 1804, was the old Parish Church, built in colonial 
times, when the Church of England was established by law. Possibly 
the first Methodist Church had been erected by that time, but of that 
I am not sure. 

The famous Frenchman, Rochefoucault, visited Staunton in 1797, 
and, in his account of his travels, says that a Presbyterian Church was 
then going up here. He is certainly mistaken in regard to the denom- 
ination, as the Presbyterians built no meeting house in town until 
more than twenty years after 1797. It may have been the first Meth- 
odist Church, and yet the name of Staunton Circuit does not appear in 
the minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Church till the year 1806. 

The Parish Church was without a rector and without adherents 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



after the Revolutionary War, and was occasionally occupied by other 
denominations, especially Presbyterians of whom a small number lived 
in the town. But let us go back to the beginning. 

According to the common belief, white people first settled in the 
country around the site of Staunton, in the year 1732. They were 
natives of the Province of Ulster, Ireland, descendants of people from 
Scotland, and therefore, have been called Scotch-Irish. 

They were generally plain, hard-working people; a few of them 
had been merchants in a small way; others were mechanics; and most 
of them were cultivators of the soil. They had fled from their native 
land on account of some degree of religious persecution and hard times 
there generally, and came here to enjoy freedom of worship and to 
eke out a livelihood as farmers and graziers. Most of them, if not all, 
landed on the Delaware River, in Pennsylvania, and in coming to this 
wilderness region crossed the Potomac River probably near the site of 
Shepherdstown, Jefferson County. From the necessity of the case 
their first care was to provide shelter from the weather, and for 
several years they were occupied in building rude cabins and in clearing 
the land for cultivation. They cannot be accused of dispossessing the 
Indians of their land as no Indians then had villages or wigwams in 
this region. It is not likely that all of them were genuinely pious; 
but many of them were, and all were, to some extent, God-fearing 
people and Presbyterians. They brought with them their Bibles, the 
Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism and Rouse's version of the 
Psalms of David. No minister came with them, and for some years 
they were without the ordinances of religion, having no organized 
Church or congregation, no preaching or baptisms or observance of 
the Lord's Supper. Whether neighbors ever met in one or another of 
the log dwellings to unite in reading the Bible and in prayer tradition 
does not say. 

This state of society could not continue long among a people who 
appreciated the benefits of religious services, and longed for a min- 
ister to preach the Gospel to them, to baptize their infant children, 
and to wait upon and comfort the dying. No minister but one of the 
established Episcopal Church was then, and for years afterwards, 
authorized by law to perform the marriage ceremony, and young 
people wishing to be married had to take long trips abroad to a 
clergyman who could legally unite them. 

Therefore, in the year 1737, five years after the first settlers 
arrived, the people made ' 'supplication, " as it was called, to the 
Presbytery of Donegal, in Pennsylvania, for ministerial supplies. The 
Presbytery could not grant the request at that time, but subsequently 
sent the Rev. James Anderson to Virginia to intercede with the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Governor of Virginia in behalf of the Presbyterians of the colony, to 
obtain for them freedom of public worship. Mr. Anderson visited the 
Valley, and in 1738 preached the first sermon ever delivered in Augusta 
County, at the house of Col. John Lewis, about two miles east of 
Staunton. 

The people continued their ' 'supplications' ' to Presbytery for a 
minister to live among them. Having heard of the Rev. John Craig, 
a young preacher recently from Ireland, they extended a call to him, 
which he did not immediately accept; but in the year 1740 the call 
was renewed and prosecuted before Presbytery by Robert Doak and 
Daniel Dennison, commissioners, who were sent to Pennsylvania for 
the purpose. Thereupon, in September, 1740, the Presbytery set 
apart Mr. Craig for the work of the Gospel ministry ' 'in the south 
part of Beverly's Manor." As he himself afterwards recorded, he 
was sent "to a new settlement in Virginia of our owne people, near 
three hundred miles distant." The country, he says, was "without a 
place of worship, or any Church order, a wilderness in the proper 
sense, and a few Christian settlers in it with numbers of the heathen 
traveling among us. ' ' 

Mr. Craig probably arrived here early in October, 1740, and in the 
course of time fixed his residence in the county four or five miles 
northeast of Staunton. He kept a record of children and others 
baptized by him, and the date of the first is October 5, 1740. The 
whole number of baptisms during his first year was one hundred and 
thirty- three— sixty-nine males and sixty-four females. In order to 
qualify himself according to law to preach, on February 26, 1741, he 
appeared before the Court of Orange County, which had then 
jurisdiction in the Valley, and took divers and sundry oaths appointed 
by act of the British Parliament to be taken. 

Up to the time of Mr. Craig's arrival, no meeting house had been 
built in the settlement,' but soon afterwards, log houses in which to 
hold religious services were erected, first near the present Augusta 
Stone Church, and then at Tinkling Spring. Nothing was known at 
that time of Staunton; there was no town or village here till some 
years afterwards. The early settlers, as stated, were farmers and did 
not congregate in towns; they sought rural shades in which to wor- 
ship God, and consequently all the older meeting-houses in the county 
ante-date the churches in town— Mossy Creek, Rocky Springs, 
Bethel and Brown's Meeting House, as well as Tinkling Spring and 
Augusta or Stone Church. After the first court house was built, in 
1745, and a town began to grow around it, the religious people 
residing here and in the vicinity worshiped at Tinkling Spring. 

There is no tradition of Mr. Craig ever preaching in Staunton, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



but probably he did so occasionally, and in the court house. In the 
Summer of 1755, the Rev. Hugh McAden came this way on his 
journey from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and in his diary stated 
that, on the first Sunday in July, he preached in the court house of 
Augusta County. 

Mr. Craig died on April 21. 1774, having resigned the pastorate 
of Tinkling Spring some years previously. That congregation, there- 
fore, had no pastor and only occasional preaching, till about the 
beginning of the Revolutionary war. 

James Waddell came here from Lancaster County, and purchased 
a farm within the bounds of Tinkling Spring congregation; and by in- 
vitation of the people preached regularly at Tinkling Spring and also in 
Staunton. Some years before he removed to the county, he was 
elected pastor of Tinkling Spring, but declined the call. As far as 
known, he never was regularly installed as pastor. The unsettled 
condition of things during the war probably prevented attention to 
such matters. 

In the year 1783, the war being over, Mr. Waddell was formally 
called to become pastor of the united congregations of Staunton and 
Tinkling Spring. The original call is in my possession. It is dated 
May 1. 17S3. and was signed, in behalf of the Staunton people by 
Alexander St. Clair and William Bowyer. I may be permitted to re- 
mark that the minister was my paternal grandfather, and that one of 
the signers of the call was my mother's grandfather. The call par- 
ticularly specified the duties required of the pastor— to preach on al- 
ternate Sundays in town, to catechise, reprove, and administer the 
ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper to worthy subjects; and 
the people promised on their part respectful attendance and Christian 
submission, and to pay the annual salary (both congregations) of 
ninety pounds Virginia currency, equal to $300.00. But it must be re- 
membered that $300.00 at that day was worth much more than the 
same sum at present. 

Thus it appears that in 1783 there was some kind of organization 
in the town, although not a regularly constituted church. 

Mr. Waddell declined the call, and in 1784 removed to the neigh- 
borhood of the present town of Gordonsville where he spent the re- 
mainder of his life. 

The last rector of Augusta Parish died about the close of the 
Revolutionary war, and it was many years before Episcopal services 
were re-established here. The Parish Church was left vacant as a 
place of Episcopal worship, and until the year 1813 was occupied by the 
Presbyterians, when a preacher could be obtained. 

What Presbyterian minister officiated in Staunton from 1784 till 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



1791 I do not know. In the latter year, the Rev. John McCue became 
"stated supply' ' for Tinkling Spring and Staunton, but he probably 
preached regularly in the town for only a few years. In 1799, and one 
or two years afterwards, the Rev. John Glendy, recently from Ire- 
land, preached occasionally in Staunton, serving several county con- 
gregations at the same time. 

All that has been said heretofore is preliminary — a mere introduc- 
tion to our history. We come now to the organization of a Presby- 
terian Church in Staunton. 

On Thursday, May 9, 1804, Lexington Presbytery met at "Bethel 
Meeting House"— so styled in the minutes of Presbytery — and on the 
next Saturday the following minute was entered: "Presbytery re- 
ceived a letter from commissioners appointed by the people of Staun- 
ton, requesting to have that society taken under its care and organized 
according to the Presbyterian form of government, and also to be 
regularly supplied until a stated pastor be obtained. Whereupon the 
Rev. Messrs. John Montgomery and Benjamin Erwin were appointed 
to assist them in their organization, and to supply them until our next 
meeting, as often as convenient." Mr. Montgomery was pastor of 
Rocky Spring, and Mr. Erwine of Mossy Creek. 

Messrs. Montgomery and Erwin appear to have made no report to 
Presbytery of their proceedings and, therefore, the exact date of the 
organization is not known. But it was prior to November 6, 1804, for 
on that day, at a meeting of Presbytery at New Providence, "A 
memorial was presented from the congregations of Brown's Meeting 
House (now Hebron) and Staunton, requesting leave to present a call 
to the Rev. William Calhoon, of Hanover Presbytery," which was 
granted. Mr. Calhoon, however, did not accept the call immediately. 

The Church consisted originally of only fifteen or twenty members. 
The first ruling elders elected and ordained were Joseph Bell, Joseph 
Cowan, Andrew Barry and Samuel Clarke. Mr. Bell is supposed to 
have been the Joseph Bell who was born in the county in 1742 and died 
in 1823, the father of the late James Bell, Esq., Major William Bell 
and others. He lived about four miles north of town. Mr. Barry and 
Mr. Cowan were merchants and natives of Ireland. The former 
removed from this community, or died, before my day; the latter was 
well known by many persons still living as a genuine specimen of the 
Scotch-Irish race. Mr. Clarke, a native of Pennsylvania, came here 
with his parents when he was a child, or youth, became a lawyer, and 
lived to a venerable age. Only one of his descendents remains in this 
community— a feeble woman, a member of this Church, who, for the 
sake of her grandfather, and her own sake, deserves kind treatment 
at our hands. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Mr. Calhoon removed to Staunton in the year 1805, and, in August, 
1806, at Brown's Meeting House, was installed pastor of the united 
congregations of Brown's Meeting House and Staunton. The Rev. 
William Wilson, of Augusta Church and the Rev. John McCue, of 
Tinkling Spring, were the committee of installation. 

The Synod of Virginia met in Staunton on October 18, 1811, and, 
no doubt, held its sessions in the Old Parish Church. 

During Mr. Calhoon's pastorate, in the year 1818, the first Pres- 
byterian Church building was erected. The Synod met here again in 
the fall of that year, and the Rev. John H. Rice, a member of the 
body, states in his diary, that he arrived in Staunton, October 15th, and 
says: "While in Staunton I experienced the kindness of the people 
of the place, and had the pleasure of observing that they were in a 
great degree attentive to the preaching of the Gospel by the members 
of the Synod. The Presbyterians have a large and very decent house 
of worship in the town, in a state of considerable forwardness. If 
completed in the style in which it is begun, it will do credit to the 
public spirit of the citizens.' ' 

The building was originally a very plain brick house, having 
neither portico or steeple. The tower for the bell, at the north end 
of the Church, was built some nineteen or twenty years afterwards. 
As generally known the house is now a part of the Mary Baldwin 
Seminary, though altered in appearance. 

At a meeting of Presbytery, in Staunton, on Thursday, April 27, 
1826, the pastoral relation of Mr. Calhoon with this Church was dis- 
solved, and he thereafter, for many years, devoted his whole time to 
Hebron congregation. Under his zealous ministrations the number 
of Church members greatly increased; and it is said that at the close 
of his term of service nearly every family in the town not connected 
with the two other Churches (Methodist and Episcopal) was repre- 
sented in the Presbyterian Church. 

Mr. Calhoon was a rigid disciplinarian and stood in awe of no man. 
While habitually courteous, he did his duty, as he understood it, 
without fear or favor. Trials before the Session seem to have been 
of frequent occurrence during his time. I have learned this from a 
roll of paper handed me by a daughter of Elder Clarke, long after her 
father's death. Mr. Clarke was probably the Clerk of Session. The 
trials were conducted with much formality, and the testimony was 
written down in the manner of legal depositions. I destroyed the 
manuscripts, but have some recollection of two of the cases tried. 
One was that of an old lady, who habitually absented herself from 
Church. She was cited to appear before the Session, and failing to 
attend, the original charge was dropped, and she was proceeded 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



against for contumacy. The other was the trial of a husband and wife 
for permitting dancing at their home. Nearly all the young society 
people in town testified as witnesses. According to my recollection, 
the papers did not show the result in either case, and no other Church 
records of that time have been preserved. 

The next pastor was the Rev. Joseph Smith (afterwards D. D.), 
a native of Western Pennsylvania, who was installed April 29, 1826. 
The services on that occasion were conducted by the Rev. Francis 
McFarland, pastor of Bethel Church, and the Rev. Henry RufFner, 
professor at Washington College, Lexington. While pastor of the 
Church, Mr. Smith also taught a classical school, being principal of 
the Staunton Academy. 

Mr. Smith was relieved from his charge on October 22, 1832. 
Towards the close of his pastorate, my knowledge of people and 
things began, and I will relate some personal recollections of the 
time. Every one knows how permanent and vivid the recollections 
of childhood are. 

The Church building stood a few yards from a plank fence which 
formed the boundary of the lot on the west side. The ground 
between the fence and New Street was unenclosed, and being used as 
a brick yard was one of the most unsightly spots in the town. It was 
afterwards bought by the congregation, and became a part of the 
church lot. There were three gates for access to the lot; one in 
front on Frederick street, and one on each side. The entrances to 
the church corresponded with the gates. The pulpit was a tall 
structure which lifted the preacher high above the audience, and in 
front of the pulpit was a wide aisle extending from door to door. 
In this aisle the table was spread at sacramental services. Two 
other aisles extended from the front doors to the cross aisle. There 
were galleries on each side and at the front of the building, and one 
of these was assigned to the colored people, many of whom attended 
the preaching. The bell was hung in the front gallery, and when 
rung the window opposite to it was hoisted to allow the sound to 
escape. The noise inside was intolerable to persons who happened to 
be in the house. For this reason, probably, the ringing was always 
some time before the congregation assembled. Services in the 
morning usually began at 11 o'clock; "early candle light" was always 
announced as the time for evening worship. Tallow candles in tin can- 
dlesticks suspended against the pillars that supported the galleries, 
were used at night to light the room, and the sexton went round 
every twenty or thirty minutes to snuff them. This proceeding also 
served the useful purpose of rousing sleepy children and others. 
I well remember the interest with which I watched the movements of 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



the sexton, especially when he snuffed a candle out and had to go 
back to light it. The house was heated in cold weather by means of 
two large cast-iron stoves near the pulpit, and some old ladies had 
foot stoves filled with live coals in their pews. To each family a pew 
was assigned, and all the family, parents and children, usually sat 
together. At times of prayer most of the congregation stood, and 
most of them with their backs to the pulpit and the officiating 
minister (!) 

I now recall most of the people who composed the congregation, 
and remember the places they occupied in the Church. In the eastern 
"amen corner" Mr. Jacob Swoope sat, his hair gathered behind his 
head in a cue and tied with a black ribbon. He always entered by 
the eastern side door, and always claimed entire possession of his 
pew. I have seen him order some persons out and invite others in. 
Behind him sat Mrs. Harrouff and her daughters, Miss Kitty and Mrs. 
Bvady; and in their rear sat Katy Woolwine and her daughter, Har- 
riet. In the first pew in the block on the east side of the Church the 
pastor's family sat. The next pew was occupied by Mr. Jacob Ruff 
and his family. After them came the family of Mr. David Gilkeson, 
and immediately in their rear was the pew where I was required to 
sit, often asleep, with my father and mother and other members of 
the family. In our rear were Mr. and Mrs. Lease; and after them 
Mrs. Warden's family. Following them were the Halls, Hartmans, 
Merritts, Heiskells and John and William Grove. 

Across the aisle, in the eastern double block of pews, were, first, 
the Harper family, and following them were the pews of the Craigs, 
Mrs. Cuthbert and her sisters, Mrs. Coleman and the Misses Bragg, 
Misses Nancy and Sally Waddell, Captain Sowers, Mr. Samuel Clarke, 
Mrs. Coalter, and the Marshall and Paris families, who came from the 
the country. 

On the western side of the Church sat the Bells (Col. Wm. A. and 
afterwards his father, Mr. James Bell) the Baldwins, Eskridges, Mr. 
and Mrs. Jefferson Stuart, Kennedys, Sperrys, McClungs, McDowells, 
Mrs. Williamson, Mr. William Clarke, Mr. William Ruff, the family 
of Dr. Boys, Col. James Crawford, Mr. James F. Patterson, Mrs. 
David W. Patterson, the Brooks family, Mr. Lyttleton Waddell, Mrs. 
Mosby, and Miss Nancy Garber. 

The elders were Mr. Cowan, Mr. Samuel Clarke, Mr. Lease, 
Captain Sowers, Dr. A. Waddell and Col. William H. Allen. During 
the pastorate of Mr. Smith's successor, Messrs. Lyttleton Waddell 
and William A. Bell were elected and ordained elders. 

There was no choir, but when the hymn was given out, William 
Cowan, son of the elder, left his father's pew, and standing under the 



[246] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



pulpit, would raise the tune. There were probably twelve or fifteen 
tunes known to the congregation. These were of the long, short and 
common metre sort. But sometimes a strange minister would give 
out a "particular metre" hymn, and the leader would have to ask him 
to select another. Of course there were no solos and no voluntaries of 
the modern kind. Captain Sowers, however, was fond of singing, 
and, while sitting in his pew waiting for the service to begin, would 
sometimes start a familiar hymn, and the congregation would join in 
as best they could. 

The singing was considered a part of the solemn worship of God, 
and there was no attempt made merely to please the ear, the spirit 
of devotion and sense itself were not sacrificed to sound. The church 
music of the day was well described by Robert Burns in his poem 
called 'The Cotter's Saturday Night": 

They chant their artless notes in simple guise; 

They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim; 
Perhaps "Dundee's" wild warbling- measures rise, 

Or plaintiff "Martyr's," worthy of the name; 
Or noble "Elgin" beats the heavenward flame, 

The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays, 
Compared with these, Italian trills are tame; 

The tickled ear no heartfelt raptures raise; 
No unison have they with our Creator's praise. 

So much for Burns. Another eminent man, no less a person than 
Walter Scott, wrote as follows: 

"I have heard the service of high mass in France celebrated with 
all the eclat which the choicest music, the richest dress, the most 
imposing ceremonies could confer on it. Yet it fell short in effect of 
the simplicity of the Presbyterian worship. The devotion, in which 
every one took a share, seemed so superior to that which was recited 
by musicians as a lesson which they had learned by rote, that it gave 
the Scottish worship all the advantage of reality over acting." 

Permit me to cite another authority on this subject: St. Augus- 
tine, so called, took great delight in sweet sounds, but was almost in- 
clined to consider any fondness for church music as a sin, unless his 
pleasure in it was derived exclusively from the words and not from 
the melody. 

Some old-fashioned Presbyterians clung to the old tunes, and ob- 
jected to the new ones as profane songs. At a certain place in Scot- 
land, for instance, at one time, when the precentor introduced a new 
tune, he was left to sing it alone while the people presisted in singing 
an old one. In this country also, at Pittsburg, more than a hundred 
years ago, when a new tune was started at public worship, on one 
occasion, an old gentleman stalked out of the house and never entered 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



in again; and an old lady flaunted herself out, exclaiming as she fled : 
"You're all going to Popery!" Our people, however, adopted new- 
tunes very readily, and I remember that Ortonville and Balerma were 
received with much pleasure when first introduced here. 

But the primitive custom I have described did not continue. Mr. 
Amos Botsford came from New York to assist Mr. Smith in the 
Academy, and, being a famous singer, he organized a choir. Since 
then, in the opinion of most people, Church music has been in a 
course of constant improvement. 

Mr. Botsford removed to Lexington, and a choir was soon organ- 
ized there. It is related that when on one occasion the pastor 
exclaimed: "Brethren, why is religion at so low a state amongst us!" 
a venerable native of the old country, who sat on the pulpit steps on 
account of his deafness, pointed to the choir in the gallery and cried 
out in his Irish brogue, "It's because of that thaater up there." 

The celebrated Dr. Nettleton spent the winter of 1828-9 in Staunton, 
and his labors here were productive of much good. He was an able 
and very judicious man, and under his ministry the Church was greatly 
built up by the addition of many persons who proved permanent and 
useful members. 

From the dawn of my recollection, a Sunday School was conducted 
in the Church — first in the audience room and afterwards in the gal- 
leries. For some years a question book on Bible history, issued by the 
American Sunday School Union, was used. We had blue tickets and 
red tickets with texts of Scripture printed on them, but what they 
signified I do not remember, and nobody living here can tell me. 

I may add that in taking up collections in Church, the hat was 
within my recollection always used; but as I learned from several 
cloth bags attached to long poles stacked in a corner near the pulpit, 
those implements had been previously used to receive the contributions 
of worshipers. 

As stated, Mr. Smith resigned his charge and was released by 
Presbytery October 22, 1832. For more than two years the Church 
was without a pastor, the pulpit being occupied occasionally by various 
ministers. The Rev. John S. Watt officiated as stated supply for six 
months or more. 

The Rev. John Steele, a native of Monroe County, was elected 
pastor in 1834, and on the 20th of June, that year, was ordained and 
installed by Presbytery. He remained here rather more than two 
years, the relation being dissolved August 4, 1837, and then emigrated, 
with many citizens of the County, to the State of Illinois. 

During Mr. Steele's residence here, the Rev. Isaac Jones came to 
this country, fresh from scenes of religious excitement in Western New 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



York. After holding meetings in various country churches, he came 
to town and conducted services here for two or three weeks, using the 
methods then in vogue. He preached "the terrors of the law, " to the 
exclusion of the Gospel, and some persons in the audience were tempted 
to cry out, "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?" 
Large additions were made to the roll of Church members, but, alas, 
many of the professed converts soon fell away. 

Rev. Paul E. Stevenson, of New York, succeeded Mr. Steele as 
pastor. He came to Staunton, by invitation, in the fall of 1837, imme- 
diately from the Seminary of Princeton, and was installed June 8, 
1838. While he was pastor, Augusta Female Seminary (now Mary 
Baldwin Seminary) was founded by the Presbyterian ministers and 
people of the town and county, at the instigation and through the 
agency of the Rev. Rufus W. Bailey. Mr. Bailey was a native of the 
State of Maine, but had lived for many years before he came to 
Staunton, in South Carolina. He was the first principal of the school, 
and conducted it for some years with considerable success. 

As far back as I can remember, and for years previously, there 
was a school for girls in Staunton, more or less under the auspices of 
this Church, with the exception of an interval prior to 1843. The first 
teacher of whom I have a vague recollection was a Mr. Easterbrook, 
who came from the North, and went from here to Knoxville, Tenn. 
He lived and had his school in the Seminary building now known as 
"Hill Top." 

The next teacher was the Rev. Mr. Thacker, who also came from 
the North, and conducted a school for girls in a large frame house 
which stood where the Y. M. C. A. building now is. Afterward he 
taught boys in the Academy. How long he lived here, and where 
he went when he left, I do not know. He was notable chiefly on ac- 
count of his absent-mindedness and the liberties he allowed his pupils, 
girls and boys, to take with him. 

Mr. Robert L. Cooke was the next principal of a school for girls, 
having his school for several years in various rented tenements. 

The Seminary having been founded and incorporated in 1845, the 
centre front building was erected on the ground then recently pur- 
chased and added to the church lot. The deed for the ground is dated 
May 13, 1841, but I am under the impression that it was purchased, 
enclosed and improved before that date. 

During many years the young people of the congregation found 
recreation and enjoyment nearly every winter in attending singing 
school. They did not attend balls and card parties. Indeed, those 
pastimes were almost unknown in Staunton. If the dance called 
"German" and the game called "progressive euchre" had been 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



invented they were unheard of here. It was during Mr. Stevenson's 
residence here that the Presbyterian Church of the country was 
divided between the Old and New school parties. The harmony of 
many congregations was seriously disturbed, and many, even feeble 
churches, were divided, as was the case in Winchester and Harrison- 
burg. Here there was hardly a ripple of discontent, although there 
was not perfect unanimity of opinion in regard to the reasons which 
led to the division. The majority of our people favored the Old school, 
and the minority acquiescing, the affairs of the congregation went on 
peacefully as before. Throughout our whole history, the Church was 
not vexed by any serious dissensions. I attribute this to the fact 
that, as far as I know, there never was a faction or individual in the 
Church striving for the ascendancy, or endeavoring to "lord it over 
God's heritage." 

Mr. Stevenson was relieved from his charge April 2, 1844, and 
was succeeded by the Rev. Robert R. Howison, who was regularly 
installed. 

Mr. Howison occupied the pulpit for part of a year, preaching 
with great acceptance. He then, by advice of physicians, was 
induced to demit the ministry. He resumed his original profession, 
and for some years practiced law with success. Finally, however, he 
returned to the ministry, and has long been prominent as a zealous 
and efficient preacher of the Gospel in the eastern part of the State. 

The Rev. Benjamin M. Smith was the next pastor. He was 
installed by Presbytery on Saturday, November 22, 1845. During his 
incumbency, the manse was erected, chiefly through the agency of 
Mr. Bailey. Large additions to the Seminary building were projected, 
and the first election of deacons was made while Mr. Smith was 
pastor. Immediately before coming here, he was pastor of the 
united churches of Waynesboro and Tinkling Spring. Being ap- 
pointed secretary of one of the General Assembly's boards, he 
resigned his charge, in 1854, and removed to Philadelphia. The latter 
years of his life were spent as professor in the Union Theological 
Seminary. 

The Rev. Jos. R. Wilson, a professor in Hampden-Sidney College, 
accepted a call from the congregation in December, 1854, and 
removed to Staunton the last week in March following. He was 
installed June 24, 1855. While he was here, the enlargement of the 
Seminary previously planned, was accomplished, so as to provide a 
residence for the principal and boarding for a considerable number of 
pupils. The principal room of the centre building was then converted 
into a study hall, and the basement room of the new eastern wing was 



[250] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



used as a congregational lecture room. A vestibule to the Church 
was built, the old-fashioned pulpit was lowered, and the interior of 
the Church was otherwise improved. 

Mr. Wilson remained in Staunton a little more than two years. 
His relation with the Church was dissolved October 8, 1857, and he 
removed to Augusta, Georgia. 

After Mr. Wilson's departure, there was a vacancy for more than 
a year. 

The Rev. William E. Baker, a native of Georgia, came here by 
invitation, in 1857, and on April 23, 1859, was installed pastor of the 
Church. 

He remained here for about 25 years, having been released on 
February 20, 1884. 

While Mr. Baker was pastor, the congregation had increased in 
numbers so greatly as to require more ample accommodations, and 
the present building was erected on the lot donated by Misses McClung 
and Baldwin, of the Seminary. The work was begun July 16, 1870, 
and completed in the spring of 1872; but on the first Sunday of Decem- 
ber, 1871, the congregation began to worship in the basement room. 
The last service in the old Church was held on Sunday, June 25, 1871, 
and the house was then abandoned to workmen, to be fitted for the 
use of the Seminary. 

In 1872, the number of Church members enrolled was 271. 

Probably about the year 1870, a member of this Church, the late 
Mr. T. B. Coleman, began to hold prayer meetings in an humble 
dwelling two miles east of town. These meetings grew into a Sunday 
School conducted by members of this Church, and finally into Olivet 
Church, the expenses of which have been largely sustained by our 
congregation. 

In the year 1875 the Second Presbyterian Church was authorized 
by Presbytery, on the petition of some of the members of this church, 
and on the 14th of November of that year, seventeen persons were 
transferred from this to that Church. As is not unusal under such 
circumstances, there were for a time some heartburnings between the 
members of the two organizations; but all feeling of that kind has 
long since disappeared. The members of the mother Church enter- 
tain no sentiment but fraternal regard towards the younger society, 
and rejoice with its members in its growth and prosperity. The little 
company of fifteen or twenty, of a hundred years ago, have grown into 
two bands, numbering together more than a thousand, about an 
eighth or ninth of the population of the town. 

The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church met 
here in May, 1881. 



[251] 




Rev. Wm. E. Baker 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The envelope system was adopted to some extent during Mr. 
Baker's pastorate. From an early day the pews of the Church were 
rented like stalls in a market, and for many years no collections even 
were taken up in public meetings. The false opinion prevailed that 
to mention money at worship militated against the idea of a gospel 
without money and without price. The minds of the officers and con- 
gregations were disabused of this sentiment about the year 1870, when 
the discovery was made that it was a duty and privilege "to worship 
the Lord with our substance." The plan of renting pews was changed 
in the course of time ; it never had worked satisfactorily, and year 
after year there was a deficiency in church revenues. The system 
was finally abolished, the doors of the Church were thrown open, and 
all persons were invited to enter and occupy seats assigned to them, 
without any stipulation as to payments, each being left to contribute 
according to his ability and willingness. 

Since Mr. Baker's time we have had three pastors, whom I will 
merely mention. First, the Rev. John P. Strider, a brilliant young 
preacher, but of frail physical constitution, who was installed Novem- 
ber 23, 1884, and relieved September 24, 1885. Second, Rev. D. K. 
McFarland, greatly beloved, installed March 24, 1886, and relieved 
March 15, 1892. Third, the Rev. A. M. Fraser, present incumbent, 
installed May 21, 1893, and long may he be spared to minister to us. 

During the pastorate of Dr. Strider, the Rev. Dr. Wm. Dinwiddie 
conducted services here for many days, and partly as the result, on a 
succeeding Sabbath, one hundred persons were publicly received into 
membership of the Church. 

The remains of Drs. Strider and McFarland repose in Thornrose 
Cemetery, and are guarded by our people. 

I cannot tell what salaries the various pastors received. I doubt 
if Mr. Calhoon received as much as $400 a year. Mr. Joseph Smith 
hardly received more than $600. Mr. Baker received for some years 
$800, increased gradually before he left, to the sum now paid. 

I have thus given all the leading facts in the history of our Church. 
I should have described the various pastors more particularly, and 
paid tributes of respect to some departed members of the Church; but 
as I could not speak of all alike, I have avoided making invidious dis- 
tinctions. I must, however, say a few words more in regard to the 
three pastors who served the congregation longer than others, and 
whom I remember. 

Mr. Stevenson was remarkably gifted in prayer, and was "mighty 
in the Scriptures." To use a common expression, he seemed to have 
the Bible at his tongue's end. He always had a fit quotation in every 
emergency, and hardly ever failed to give book, chapter and verse. 



[253] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Soon after he came here he was introduced to a young girl whose 
parents had recently died, and advised her to read the 27th Psalm, 
where she would find the words, "When my father and my mother 
forsake me. then the Lord will take me up." Having gone through 
deep waters in his religioas experience he knew how to succor those 
who were immersed in the flood. The first sermon he preached was 
from Hebrews VI : IS — "That by two immutable things, in which it 
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, 
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." 

Dr. B. M. Smith was remarkable for his fluency of speech and the 
fullness of his instructions. His more formal sermons rarely did 
justice to his abilities ; but his Sunday night discourses and especially 
his lectures at Wednesday night meetings, were unsurpassed in excel- 
lence. He always appeared to do better when he had apparently 
made little or no preparation. 

Mr. Baker was here twenty-five years, one-fourth of the century 
just closed. Mr. Baker did a great work. He built up the congregation, 
and to him chiefly are we indebted for this commodious and beautiful 
house. He was specially helpful to the poor and friendless. He was 
devoted to Sunday School work, and had a peculiar talent for enter- 
taining children. For young people generally he manifested much 
sympathy, and often took much trouble and labor to provide pastimes 
for them. 

As far as I know, only three persons who were here, as children, 
in the time of Dr. Joseph Smith, now survive. One generation after 
another has passed away since this Church was founded. The mem- 
bers of the present congregation have reason to cherish the memory 
of many who have gone before; and, stronger in number and means 
than ever, they should cling together with increased devotion to the 
Lord and in love to one another. 

We are not divided. 

All one body we, 
One in hope and doctrine, 

One in charity. 



The Centennial exercises at the First Presbyterian 
Church of this City were resumed October 27th, at 11 
o'clock. Rev. Robert H. Fleming, D. D., of the West- 
minster Church. Lynchburg, presided over the meeting. 
Dr. Walker in his welcoming address, on the first day, 
spoke of the close association personally, or by family ties, 



[254] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of those participating in the meetings, with the congrega- 
tion here. He might have stated that Dr. Fleming is a 
direct descendant of John Lewis, the first settler. 

After devotional exercises, being introduced by Dr. 
Fraser, Dr. Fleming said: 

A gifted speaker— at a meeting of the Scotch-Irish Congress- 
related an incident of one of England's forceful statesmen. Morning 
after morning he would enter the family gallery, and stand over 
against the family portraits. "I'll not forget, I'll be true." His 
son watched him in awe. One day his father led him into the gallery 
and as he stood facing the pictures— "You too, must hear them talk." 
' 'Father, how can they speak?" ''My boy, for many years, they 
have spoken to me, and each picture has its own message. One says, 
'Be true to me'; another says, 'Be true to your race'; another says 
'Be true to thyself; another one, my mother, says, 'Be true to my 
God.' " We are to-day to look upon the faces of our ancestry, to 
rehearse the story of John Lewis and Col. Patton, and Pastor Craig 
and Waddell and Wilson and Speece and Scott, how they wrought and 
worshipped. No doubt the message which their lives will bring us, 
is "Be true to them, to ourselves and to our God." 

The story we are to hear is of beginnings of " foundations," laid 
broad and deep. 

The author of the Declaration of Independence has inscribed at 
his own request on his tomb, "Author of the Statute of Virginia for 
Religious Freedom." But it was the Scotch-Irish people of Virginia 
who brought the question before the Legislature in an able memorial 
from the Presbytery of Hanover. The paper had been prepared with 
great care, and went straight to the mark. In 1777, and in subse- 
quent years, this Presbytery of Hanover, presented additional me- 
morials on the same subject. It was a bold enunciation of grand 
principle, important to Church and State alike. 

Jefferson had before him when he drew his immortal statute, 
these memorials of the Hanover Presbytery. In 1786 the bill became 
a law, and the victory for Religious Freedom was won. One of the 
gifted sons of the Puritans, Mr. Choate, has said : 

"In the reign of Mary, a thousand learned Englishmen fled from 
the stake at home to the happier seats of Continental Protestantism. 
Great numbers of them came to Geneva. There they awaited the 
death of the Queen and then, in the time of Elizabeth, went back to 
England. I ascribed to that five years in Geneva an influence that 
has changed the history of the world. In that brief season English 



[255] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Puritanism was changed fundamentally and forever." But it was in 
Scotland that the Geneva faith builded high and strong its most en- 
during monuments. It was John Witherspoon, a lineal descendant of 
John Knox, whose courageous speech turned the scale when the fate 
of the Declaration of Independence was trembling in the balance. He 
said: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, a nick of time, we perceive 
it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That 
noble instrument upon your table, which insures immortality to its 
author should be subscribed this very morning by every one in this 
house. He that will not respond to its accents and strain every nerve 
to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy of the name of free- 
man. ' ' 

The Scotch-Irish were the largest and the most potent elements 
in the formation of our American history. "The sons of men who on 
the 2d of December, 1688, shut the gates of Derry, and starved 
rather than surrender to the tyrant, James, were trained to endure 
the hardships of the frontier life that awaited them here, and had 
nerves which did not flinch or quiver, however great the foe before 
them." 

These men did not flinch nor quiver, because there was a conscience 
within, a history behind, a future before, and a God above them. 

Memorial celebrations such as we are engaged in to-day, are to 
enable us to tell our children the deeds of our fathers, and to impress 
upon them the greatness of their responsibility which must soon pass 
to them. We are to ask them, as they bow before God and the 
family and in the sanctuary— which are the glory and the defense of 
our land — to resolve that they will be true to their fathers, to them- 
selves and to their God. 

In one of the darkest periods of the Revolution, Washington 
said: "If retreat I must, it will be to rally the Scotch-Irish of the 
Valley of Virginia around the standard, and with them to make a 
final stand for freedom." 

When Tarleton ravaged the country beyond the "Ridge" it was 
under the inspiring words of the pastor of one of the churches whose 
history we are to hear to-day, that every man grasped his weapon 
and went forth to beat the invader back. 

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 
God to the hurling down of strongholds. 

"Though numerous hosts of mighty foes" are enlisted for the 
destruction of our liberties and our religion, there are those who will 
to-day keep the faith, and rally around the old banner that has come 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



to us from the hands of the brave and true, and who will, with closed 
ranks, make a final and successful stand for the Bible, the home, the 
Church and the Sabbath. 

The descendants of the men who built Augusta, Hebron, Tinkling 
Spring, Bethel, Staunton First Church, never 

Dread the skeptic's puny hands 

While near the school the Church spire stands 

Nor fear the blended bigots rule 

While near the Church spire stands a school. 

SKETCH OF TINKLING SPRING CHURCH, BY REV. G. W. FINLEY, D. D. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The present speaker must at the outset plead guilty to more than 
wonted embarassment and trepidation. For he is called to personate 
or represent a venerable Mother, over whose honored head the sunshine 
and the shadows of one hundred and sixty-four years have passed. 
Consequently, he can but fear that your patience may be sorely tried, 
if he truly represents her, when he remembers the strong temptation 
to the aged of both sexes to live in the past and to become garrulous 
as they recall and recount its history. 

But before he attempts to tell you who and what that Mother is, 
and how through all these years she has sought to serve and honor her 
God, it is his pleasing duty to come, in her name, to greet to-day 
and to express her love for and pride in a daughter who wears upon 
her brow the crown of a century's loving and faithful service for the 
glory of God and for the good of man. She would rejoice with that 
daughter not only in all that, under God, has been accomplished during 
the hundred years that have passed, but also in the glowing hopes of 
the future, and especially now that the shadow which so recently 
seemed to be gathering has passed away, and the tie that threatened 
to be broken has been made only the stronger and tenderer. She 
joins you in the earnest prayer that the bond which now so happily 
and strongly unites you to your honored and beloved pastor and binds 
him to you may grow in strength and tenderness, in unbroken love 
and service until the Master says to him, "Well done faithful servant! 
enter into the joy of thy Lord." 

But this venerable Mother would not forget to bring her warm and 
loving greeting to the granddaughter who is here present in the vigor 
and hope of her youth to participate in and add to the joys of this 
memorable day. She, with you, rejoices in the rapid growth of that 
granddaughter in strength and usefulness, and congratulates her upon 
the bright outlook for the days to come, as she wins back from Texas, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



that true son of the Old Dominion, her honored pastor, and with him 
strives to extend the blessings of the Gospel at home and abroad 
Long, long may they thus labor, with the richest blessings of God upon 
all their efforts! 

But it is now time that your speaker should turn to the special 
duty and privilege assigned him and try to tell you something of the 
origin and life of Tinkling Spring Church. To do this you must with 
him cross the seas to and before the days when "the bold, bad Clavers" 
rode with his fierce dragoons over "the land of the blue bell and the 
heather," and like another Saul of Tarsus "breathing out threaten- 
ings and slaughter " for those who sought to worship their God ac- 
cording to the teachings of His Word and the dictates of their own 
consciences. Exposed, as they were, to be shot or sabered on the 
moors of Scotland, or led to the rack, the gibbet and the stake, many 
of her sturdy sons sought refuge in the North of Ireland, in the vain 
hope that there they might worship God unmolested. 

Disappointed in this they turned their eyes to the new lands 
beyond the ocean, and about the time the Pilgrim Fathers landed at 
Plymouth Rock they sought to emigrate to America. But under what 
seemed then to be strange and incomprehensible providences all of their 
desires and efforts were baffled for a hundred years or more. Yet 
these providences are now seen in the light of history to have been the 
wise and gracious ordering of the God whom they sought to serve. He 
had for them a nobler and grander work than they ever conceived. 
Kept still in the crucible of oppression they were given time not only 
to fully organize the Church they were to transplant to new shores, 
but as we have already been told so eloquently to-day, so to keep the 
Gates of Derry and to battle on the banks of Boyne River as to win 
and preserve for themselves and the world the principles of Protest- 
antism and the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty. 

About 1732, when what is now Augusta County was part of 
Orange County, which then extended from its boundaries in Eastern 
Virginia northward to the Great Lakes, westward to the Mississippi 
and southward to the present state of Tennessee, a little band of that 
sturdy Scotch-Irish race that has left its impress so wide and deep 
upon the world's history, under the leadership of John Lewis and 
John Preston, came as the first settlers to the region of which Staun- 
ton is now the centre. The country between the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains and the North Mountains was then, for the most part, a beau- 
tiful prairie, abounding in game and much frequented by hunting 
parties of Indians. 

The men of that band of immigrants were grave, God-fearing, 
loyal to their King so long as he governed according to law, but 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



seekers after liberty of conscience and determined to choose for them- 
selves those who should rule and teach them in their local affairs, 
industrious, frugal and lovers of sound learning. 

They had scarcely reared their rude log dwellings in this wilder- 
ness before they are found petitioning Synod and Presbytery for 
preachers. 

In 1737 and 1738 they sent to Donegal Presbytery, of the Synod of 
Philadelphia, for help, and, in the latter year, Rev. Mr. Anderson was 
sent to intercede with Governor Gooch for their relief from laws that 
oppressed them as dissenters. He visited the Valley and preached at 
the house of John Lewis, near the present site of Staunton, the first 
sermon, perhaps, ever preached in that region. 

In 1739 a Rev. Mr. Thompson visited the settlement and preached 
for awhile, and a little later Rev. John Craig came and was called to 
be the pastor of what was then known as the "Congregation of Shen- 
andoah," and soon after as the "Congregation of the Triple Forks of 
the Shenandoah." Robert Doak and Daniel Dennison presented and 
urged the call before Presbytery. Mr. Craig accepted it and entered 
upon his work in 1740 as the first regularly settled Presbyterian minister 
in the colony of Virginia. His field extended along the Blue Ridge 
from near Port Republic to Greenville arid across the Valley west of 
Staunton to the North Mountain and along it to a point below Mossy 
Creek, and across the Valley again to the beginning. His flock was 
scattered and worshipped according to tradition in a number of places 
in log buildings and arbors. But they were mainly gathered about 
two points: One, 8 miles north of Staunton on what is now the valley 
pike and known as the Old Stone or Augusta Church; the other, 7 
miles southeast of Staunton, called Tinkling Spring, perhaps, from 
some peculiar sound made by a cold spring that breaks out from the 
hill on which the Church now stands. Mr. Craig lived between these 
two places and served both as one congregation until 1764, and after- 
wards confined himself to the Old Stone Church up to his death in 1774. 

There is no certain information of the time when the first church 
building was erected at Tinkling Spring. Dr. Foote, in his "Sketches 
of Virginia" (2d series) writes of a log building "finished off by the 
widow of John Preston." Mr. Craig left a diary from which it is 
evident there was difficulty in deciding upon the site for building in the 
southern part of his field, and that, finally, against his wishes, it was 
located on the little hill where the present Church stands. He writes : 
' 'April 14, 1745, * * this being the first day we meet at the 
contentious meeting house about half built. T. S." 

Dr. Waddell, in his "Annals of Augusta County," quotes a record 
that shows that the people of Tinkling Spring in 1741 appointed their 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



trusty and well-beloved friends— James Patton, John Finley, George 
Hutchinson, John Christian and Alexander Breckenridge— ' 'to manage 
their public affairs, to choose and purchase land and build a meeting 
house on it, to collect pastor's salary, etc., etc., and to account twice 
each year to the minister and session for the discharge of their 
duties.' ' We further find, in the same valuable book, that in 1747 
James Patton, John Christian, James Alexander and William Wright 
' 'chosen commissioners and trustees," received a deed from William 
and John Thompson for 110 acres of land "for the use of the Presby- 
terian congregation of Tinkling Spring. ' ' 

Thus was planted in prayer and faith and effort this venerable 
Church, the fruitful mother of other strong and flourishing Churches 
in this county, and which has for over 150 years wielded through her 
ministers and members so mighty an influence for good upon Church 
and State not only in Virginia, but throughout the South and West 
and in the councils of the nation. 

During Mr. Craig's pastorate large accessions to the Scotch-Irish 
colony were made, and they became a strong defense against the 
inroads of the savage Indians. They worked and worshipped with 
their trusty rifles by their side, and were often called to follow the 
trail of some cruel band that with tomahawk and scalping knife burst 
upon some of their families. 

About 1798 a Church was erected in that part of their con- 
gregation gathered in and about Waynesboro, and another building at 
the same place in 1824. In 1846 or 1847 this portion of the congre- 
gation was set off and organized as a separate Church. The Presby- 
terians living in and near Staunton attended Tinkling Spring Church, 
of which they were members, until 1804, when they were organized 
into a separate Church and, for awhile, united with Hebron in the 
support of a pastor. The present large and comfortable brick 
building at Tinkling Spring was planned and erected under Dr. 
Dabney's pastorate, between 1846 and 1852. 

Kept by the good hand of her God the old Church still survives, 
and with her daughters still nourishes the faith and moulds the lives 
of worthy descendants of the grand men who founded it in stormy and 
troubulous times. 

Tinkling Spring has had, since its organization, with some inter- 
vals of vacancy, eleven pastors, among whom are found some of the 
most notable men of their day: 

Rev. John Craig, D. D., 1740-1754; Rev. James Waddell, D. D., 
1776-1781; Rev. John McCue, 1790-1818; Rev. James C. Wilson, 1818- 
1839; Rev. B. M. Smith, D. D., LL. D., 1840-45; Rev. R. L. Dabney, 
D. D., LL. D., 1847-1852; Rev. C. S. M. See, D. D., 1856-1870; Rev. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



G. B. Strickler, D. D, LL. D., 1870-1883; Rev. John Preston, D. D., 
1883-1888; Rev. H. R. Laird, 1889-1891; Rev. G. W, Finley, D. D., 
1892. 

It is impossible to give now sketches of all of these, but a few 
words about two or three may be of interest. 

The first pastor, Dr. Craig, was a native of Ireland, County An- 
trim, Province of Ulster, and was educated at Edinburgh, Scotland, 
and received the degree of A. M. in 1732. He came to America in 1734 
and was licensed to preach by Donegal Presbytery in 1737, and settled 
as pastor in Virginia in 1740. History and tradition show him to have 
been a man of marked ability and an active, earnest and fearless 
preacher of the Gospel, with not a little of the strong-will character- 
istic of his race. His sermons, sound in doctrine, were, after the 
style of his day, very long and broken up into many heads, divisions 
and sub-divisions. Two of these were usually preached on each Sab- 
bath and occupied the larger part of the day. He married a daughter 
of George Russell of his native county, in Ireland. Five, it appears, of 
the nine children of their union survived the parents, and in the Craigs 
of Kanawha County, West Virginia, and the Hamiltons of Augusta 
County we find their worthy descendants. Dr. Craig died in 1774, and 
was buried in the old cemetery at Augusta Church. 

Dr. James Waddell, who ' 'fills a page in Virginia literature im- 
mortalizing William Wirt, the author of ' The Blind Preacher, ' one of 
the men of his own generation and a man for all generations," 
was also born in the province of Ulster, Ireland. Brought by his 
parents in infancy to America, he was educated at the famous " Log 
College " of Dr. Samuel Finley, at Nottingham; studied theology under 
the distinguised minister, Rev. Mr. Todd, of Louisa County; was 
licensed, by Old Hanover Presbytery, at Tinkling Spring, 1761, and 
began his ministry in the Churches of Lancaster and Northumberland, 
Virginia. Failing health sent him to the Valley, where he purchased 
and lived upon the Spring Hill farm on South River, and served 
Tinkling Spring Church until he removed to Louisa County, near the 
borders of Orange and Albemarle Counties, where he lived until his 
death in 1805. As a preacher his eloquence has rarely been equalled, 
and those who knew him best attest [that Wirt's famous description 
of it in ''The British Spy," was no exaggeration. His amiable dis- 
position, his courtly, yet genial manners made him a welcome guest 
to every circle, while his profound piety and extensive learning im- 
pressed all who knew him. After he removed to Louisa County he 
was afflicted with blindness, but still preached with much of his 
wonted vigor. At one time he found partial relief from an operation 
for cataract, but the blindness returned and he no more saw the light 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of the sun, but with calm and patient faith and hope awaited the 
Master's summons to the world of light above. While serving the 
Curches in Lancaster and Northumberland, he was happily married to 
Mary, a daughter of Col. James Gordon, one of his elders, and through 
his large family left many descendants distinguished both in Church 
and State, of whom we are glad to welcome to-day the beloved and 
honored Senior Elder of this Church, the worthy collector and pre- 
server of the records of the deeds of his and our worthy ancestors. 
Long may his bow abide in strength. 

Revs. John McCue and James C. Williams were well and widely 
known as good and strong men, and alike ended their useful careers 
by sudden death. Mr. McCue was thrown from his horse and killed 
while on his way to church one Sabbath morning. Mr. Williams 
dropped dead while getting his mail from the postoffice in Waynesboro. 

Of Dr. Smith, the learned orientalist, so long professor in Union 
Theological Seminary, and of that grand old man— in the judgment of 
many, the foremost man of his day in this country, who despite his 
blindness continued to wield his imperial powers in support of truth 
and right, up to the time of his lamented death— the profound theolo- 
gian and author, R. L. Dabney, we cannot speak at length. Nor can we 
do more than mention See, with his accurate, critical knowledge of the 
Scriptures and his almost encyclopedic acquaintance with men and 
things, coupled with deep and unaffected piety; and Strickler, the 
strong and eloquent worthy successor of Dr. Dabney not only in the 
pulpit, but in the chair of theology which he now adorns in Union 
Seminary; the lamented Preston, whose recent death still shadows the 
hearts of those, and they are many, who knew and loved him for his 
own and his work's sake; and Laird, the sturdy son of Rockbridge, 
who still gives the fruit of his ripe experience to earnest and active 
work in Texas. 

If we were to attempt a sketch of the prominent and useful men 
who have been connected with Tinkling Spring we would be almost 
obliged to give a history of most of the families in the county — 
Lewises, Prestons, Pattons, Christians, Moffatts, McCues, McClana- 
hans, Blacks, Hunters, Halls, Stuarts Gilkesons, Patricks, Bells, 
Alexanders, Campbells, Breckenridges, Pattersons, Pilsons, Poages, 
Tates, Trimbles, Lyles, Doaks, McDowells and a host of others equally 
worthy with a brilliant record of achievements in peace and war, in 
the learned professions, in the quiet pursuits of commerce and farming, 
which have given tone and character to so much that is good and 
noble in our County, State and Country. 

Long may their virtues be remembered and imitated by those who 
inherit the legacy of their names and blood! 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



SKETCH OF HEBRON CHURCH, BY REV. HOLMES ROLSTON 

In 1746 the Rev. John Blair visited this country and organized 
four Presbyterian congregations— Forks of James, Timber Ridge, 
New Providence and North Mountain. 

North Mountain was afterwards abandoned, its members going to 
Bethel and to Brown's Meeting House. 

Brown's Meeting House was the name of the first building where 
Hebron now stands. 

It was a log building, but the date of its erection is not known. 

In October, 1766, three calls were placed in the hands of Rev. Chas. 
Cummings. One from Albemarle, one from Forks of James and one 
from Major Brown's Meeting House, Hebron. The latter he accepted. 
We do not know when nor by whom this Church was organized. 

Mr. Cummings was probably its first pastor. He was born in 
Ireland, but came to this country early in life and lived in the congre- 
gation of the Rev. Jas. Waddell, and it is probable, studied theology 
under him. He was a man who possessed great personal firmness 
and dignity of character. His voice was strong, his articulation clear 
and distinct. It is said he could speak to be heard by ten thousand 
people. He served the people of Brown's Meeting House till 1772. 

There was then a vacancy till 1778, when the Rev. Archibald Scott 
was called to serve this Church together with North Mountain. 

It was during the second year of his ministry that Bethel was 
built. From this time it is supposed that North Mountain was 
abandoned. 

He came as a lonely emigrant from Scotland, first to Pennsyl- 
vania, then to the Virginia frontier. He studied theology under Rev. 
Wm. Graham at Liberty Hall, and on October 31, 1777, he with 
Samuel Doak and Edward Crawford was licensed to preach the Gospel. 
He supplied vacant Churches in the valley till the following October, 
when he was called to Brown's Meeting House and North Mountain, 
which work he accepted. 

Here he spent the remainder of his life, greatly beloved by the 
people to whom he ministered. 

On the 4th of March, 1799, after a short illness, he closed his useful 
life. His remains lie under the oaks in the cemetery at Hebron, and 
the slab that marks his grave, with its camps and cannon, cross and 
Bible, carved upon it, indicate the various ways in which he faithfully 
served his people and his country. 

The date on this slab is incorrect. It is given March 4, 1800, 
while in the old family Bible, now in the hands of Mrs. Mary J. 
McPheeters, it is recorded March, 4, 1799. 



[263] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The next pastor was the Rev. William Calhoon. On May 3, 1805, 
he accepted a call from Staunton and Brown's Meeting House. 

These Churches he served for a number of years, "The in- 
creasing services required by the enlarging congregations, induced 
him, as the infirmities of age came on him, to withdraw, first from 
Staunton, which he thought and rightly, required the undivided atten- 
tion of a minister and then from Brown's Meeting House, which had 
taken the name of Hebron, and which required the labors of a strong 
man." 

He was the son of a godly elder of Briery Church, Prince Edward 
County and lived six miles from Hampden-Sidney College where he 
was educated, walking home every Saturday. 

He was carefully trained from early childhood in morality and re- 
ligion, sedate, unaffected, sincere, in cheerfulness and in close atten- 
tion to his studies, surpassed by none. 

He and his friend, Corey Allen, with whom he was associated for 
a time in mission work in Kentucky, were converted along with others 
at the same time during a revival in College. 

Allen was droll, rollicking, full of fun and merriment. When a 
student his very appearance was the sign for uproarious laughter. 

He greatly admired gravity in others, and felt his want of it. 
Charmed with the ministerial dignity of his young friend, Calhoon, he 
determined to imitate him. 

"With all the gravity he could assume, he went to his next ap- 
pointment, rode to the house slowly, dismounted in a slow, quiet 
manner, spoke gravely to the people, moved about in a solemn man- 
ner without a smile or exciting a smile in others. 

"People were astonished. 

" 'Are you unwell, Mr. Allen?' 

" 'Has anything happened, Mr. Allen?' 

" 'Have you heard any bad news, Mr. Allen?' 

" 'Any affliction among your friends, Mr. Allen?' 

' 'At last bursting into a laugh, to the surprise and merriment of 
all, he exclaimed, ' I can play Calhoon no longer. ' When the excite- 
ment was over he made them weep under his sermon. ' ' 

Mr. Calhoon had a splendid memory. He trusted it and it was 
faithful to him. He was ready and prompt, all his stores were at his 
command at a moment's warning. Brave, frank, cheerful, courteous, 
social, ever ready to contend valliantly for the truth, but equally 
ready to give up non-essentials. He never counted the cost of fearing 
God and keeping a good conscience. 

The earliest record that we can find of Brown's Meeting House 
begins May 10, 1816, with the vindication of Mr. Calhoon by the Session 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and others. One of his members, whom he had reproved for drunk- 
enness, evidently in anger, had been circulating damaging reports 
about his pastor; among others that he had stolen his neighbor's hogs, 
saying that Mr. Calhoon had made up his quantity of pork from his 
neighbors' s hogs. 

These reports were taken up and investigated by the Session and 
others, and their signed statement is that they are entirely without 
foundation, and that no one but this one family had had anything to 
do with their circulation. 

On the next page is a request from the Session to Presbytery to 
send a committee to try this offending brother. 

It was during the latter part of his ministry that the brick 
Church recently burned, was erected. 

The Church was exceedingly prosperous under his ministry. 

We do not know the membership in 1805, when he came, but in 
1816 there were 100 members, ninety-four white and six colored. 

In September, 1833, there were 212 members. Then a great re- 
vival began in which Mr. Calhoon was assisted by the Rev. Isaac 
Jones, and on November 24th, eighty-eight persons were added to 
the Church, seventy- two white, sixteen colored, making the member- 
ship 300. The following account of this revival is found among the 
records of Brown's Meeting House: 

"Mr. Jones's method of conducting these meetings was new to 
the people of this country. 

"When he came he preached at the Church in the morning, and at 
the close of the services gave notice that there would be a prayer 
meeting at an old, unoccupied house, near the residence of a venerable 
old lady, noted for her eminent piety and sterling worth, and where a 
Sabbath afternoon prayer meeting had long been held and was con- 
tinued for many years thereafter. This meeting Mr. Jones conducted. 
His sole object seemed to be to train and instruct those who were in 
the habit of leading in prayer to perform this duty to arouse, as far as 
possible, the emotions. After singing a hymn some elder was called 
upon to lead in prayer. Then an exhortation on the proper manner of 
praying— it should be brief, pointed, annimated and rousing. This 
lecture was accompanied with anecdotes illustrating how revivals had 
been killed by a single long, deliberate, dull prayer by an old ruling 
elder. 

"Nothing was said about the spirit or frame of mind or state of 
the heart when approaching the throne of grace, nor the character of 
the petitions offered. Then another hymn and prayer, then another 
edition of some lecture with additions and emendations. 

"He was not a man of profound or extensive scholarship, but being 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. STAUNTON, VA. 



endowed with an acute and vigorous intellect, he clearly and correctly 
comprehended the vital truths of the Christian religion, and embrac- 
ing them cordially and unreservedly, he enforced them upon the 
hearts and consciences of his hearers in a manner at once forcible and 
pungent. His manner was earnest and animated; his gestures 
becoming sometimes what might be called violent, but it was evident 
that they were but the natural manifestations of an ardent soul, fully 
and entirely realizing the truths of the transcendent importance of 
the doctrines he was expounding and enforcing. His sermons were 
never elaborate discourses, but always brief, exhibiting a vigorous 
and subtle intellect. 

"He had some twelve or fourteen which he delivered, I presume, 
in the same order. After each sermon there was an exhortation to 
the impenitent, a hymn' sung, from the (U. H.?) the 'anxious seat' 
proposed and all urged to come to it to be prayed for. 

"After the prayer and an address, often another hymn, followed by 
a second urgent invitation to the unconverted to come forward." 

In October, 1834, Mr. Calhoon resigned his pastorate here and, in 
November, Mr. Jones began his labors as stated supply. He served 
until 1839. 

On November 1, 1840, the services of Rev. S. J. Love were secured 
by a committee appointed to secure a pastor or a supply, and, on 
August 13, 1842, he was installed as pastor. 

On August 14, 1841, 'the Church of Shiloh made request through 
the Rev. Mr. Calhoon to unite with Hebron. In March of the follow- 
ing year, the formal request was made by Hebron to Presbytery to 
unite them with Shiloh, the united Church to retain the name of 
Hebron. 

In September, 1858, Mr. Love resigned to accept work in Missis- 
sippi. Shortly after this Rev. Jno. T. Baker was called. He declined 
to signify his acceptance of the call for a time, but came as stated 
supply. He was installed as pastor the following year, but was dis- 
missed by Presbytery in January, 1861, to accept a call to Wheeling. 

In May. 1562. the Rev. Thomas L. Preston. D. D., was installed 
as pastor. He continued pastor till in July, 1868. 

Rev. Daniel B. Ewing, D. D.. was installed as pastor November 
27, 1869, remaining about 8 years. 

The Rev. F. H. Gaines. D. D.. came in May, 1878, and remained 
until the fall of 1883. 

Rev. L. B. Johnson came November 25, 1884, and remained till 
May 28, 1887. 

Rev. J. E. Booker came October 1, 1888, and remained till Febru- 
ary 1, 1900. 

Rev. Holmes Rolston came July 3, 1900. 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BY REV. W. N. SCOTT, D. D. 

The life of this Church covers so short a period— only 28 years and 
seven months — that but little historic interest can be presented. It 
was organized by a commission of Lexington Presbytery, November 
14, 1875. The following persons, all from the First Church of this 
City, it is believed, were in the organization, viz: Thos. S. Doyle, 
Mrs. Margaret D. Effinger, J. Fred Effinger, Holmes Erwin, Wm. C. 
Geiger, Wm. A. Hudson, Maj. Jed Hotchkiss, Mrs. Sarah Hotchkiss, 
Miss Nellie Hotchhiss (now Mrs. McCullough) Chas. D. McCoy, Chas. 
A. Turner, H. A. Walker and Mrs. Lucy D. Woods. 

Capt. Chas. D. McCoy was elected a ruling elder, and Henry A. 
Walker and Wm. A. Hudson deacons in the new Church. 

The first minute in the Session Book is dated January 25, 1876. 
From this it appears that there were present Rev. MacDuff Simpson, 
pastor, and ruling elder, Chas. D. McCoy. Mrs. McCoy, wife of 
Chas. D., was received on profession of faith, and eleven others by 
letter, of whom six were from the First Church. Deacon H. A. 
Walker was appointed as treasurer of the Church. 

First: Places of worship used by the Church. For nearly a year 
the old town hall, on Main street, was used for Church and Sunday 
School purposes. Near the close of 1876 the Church or chapel, corner 
Frederick and Lewis Streets, was completed and occupied. It had 
cost about $4,000 and furnished a comfortable home for the young 
organization until September, 1901, when it was torn down to make 
way for the present larger building. The present Church was com- 
pleted and dedicated in October, 1902. It cost, including its furnish- 
ings, about $15,000. The desirable manse property next to the Church 
was purchased in 1886 for about $5,000. 

Second: The pastors of the Second Church. There have been 
five pastors previous to the present one, all of whom are now living. 
The first pastor was the Rev. MacDuff Simpson, who was installed in 
December, 1875, and remained with the Church something less than 
two years. Mr. Simpson is now a minister in the Church of Scotland 
and settled near Berwick, on Tweed. After Mr. Simpson's departure, 
the Rev. Wm. T. Richardson, D. D., long the honored editor of The 
Central Presbyterian, served the Church as a supply for part of a year. 

The second pastor was Rev. J. E. Booker, from September, 1878 
to April, 1885, a period of over six years. Mr. Booker is still with us 
and the successful superintendent of the Synod's Evangelistic Work. 
The third pastor was the Rev. H. H. Hawes, D. D., from August, 
1885 to December, 1891, six years and four months. Dr. Hawes is 
now a resident of Charlottesville, Va. 



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Rev. William Nelson Scott. D. D. 



Began his pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church. Staunton, Va., in June, 1901. 
He is descended from a long- line of Presbyterian preachers. His great-grandfather, the 
Rev. Archibald Scott, was pastor of Hebron and Bethel Churches in this County during- 
the Revolutionary period — from 1776 to 1799, and is buried in Hebron churchyard. 

Dr. Scott held pastorals in Richmond, Virginia, and Galveston, Texas, before coming- 
to Staunton. He was born in Halifax County, Virginia, and was educated at Washington 
and Lee University and at Union Theological Seminary, Virginia, 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



The fourth pastor was Rev. Wm. Cumming, from March, 1892 to 
June, 1896, a period of four years and three months. Mr. Cumming is 
now pastor at Winchester, Ky. 

The fifth pastor was Rev. J. M. Wells, now of Wilmington, N. C. 
Mr. Wells was pastor from November, 1896 to February, 1901, four 
years and three months. 

The present pastor began June, 1901. 

Third : The elders who have served the Church in the order of 
their election are: Capt. Chas. D. McCoy, (November 14, 1875) Capt. 
Wm. Jordan, Jas. W. Morrison, Maj. Jed Hotchkiss, Capt. T. C. 
Morton, Jas. M. Lickliter, Capt. Hugh W. Henry, B. F. Hughes, 
M. F. Gilkeson, B. F. Humphreys, Dr. C. T. Lewis, W. N. Clemmer, 
S. Brown Allen, H. M. Lewis, N. C. Kester, W. Arthur Willson. 

Fourth: The deacons in the order of their election are: H. A. 
Walker and Wm. A. Hudson (November 14, 1875) Jno. S. Lipscomb, 
T. C. Morton, B. F. Hughes, Geo. B. Greaver, Jas. T. Lightner, 
Chas. McCue, A. M. Howison, Jno. H. Willson, Jno. C. Whitlock, 
W. N. Clemmer, J. Fred Effinger, M. F. Gilkeson, B. F. Humphreys, 
W. A. Willson, H. M. Lewis, Jacob A. Hanger, Frank T. Holt, T. 
Walter Davis, W. A. Higgs, Alex. H. Fultz, J. W. Lovegrove, H. N. 
McCutchen, N. C. Kester, J. C. Recher, A. S. Morton, W. J. Swink, 
Richard H. Bell, Jr., Stuart P. Silling, Thos. A. Bell, Newton Argen- 
bright, Wm. A. Crawford, and W. Frank Dull. 

Fifth: The growth of the Church. Beginning with only thirteen 
members and struggling with many discouragements, its growth was 
necessarily slow. At the end of ten years its membership was re- 
ported as one hundred and eleven and a Sunday School of eighty. 

The next ten years its growth was much more rapid, and at the 
close of this decade it reported a little over four hundred members and 
a Sunday School of about 250. The present membership, after a care- 
ful revision of the roll, is 528 and the Sunday School about 280. The 
Church has received into its membership during the twenty-eight 
years one thousand and eighty-nine persons (1089) of whom 600 were 
by letter and 489 on profession of faith. Thus has its growth, by the 
blessings of God, justified the wisdom of the Presbytery in organizing 
it, and added to the strength of the denomination in this City. 

Passing through many trials and struggles it would naturally be 
that this Church would develop a high type of grace and devotion in 
many of the members, and there have been many, both men and 
women, living and dead, whose names occur readily to all who are 
familiar with the past of the Church. It would be simple justice and a 
pleasure to name them, but we forbear lest it might seem invidious. 
It may be permitted however to refer to and emphasize the devoted 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and successful labors of our zealous women who here, as always, are 
conspicuous in faithful work. The Ladies' Aid Society has done a 
fine work in all the past, but during the past three years, in connection 
with the building of the new Church, has quite surpassed itself, having 
contributed nearly $2, 500 towards fitting and furnishing of the Church. 
The "Church Workers," the Junior Organization, during the same 
time undertook and has about paid for the new organ in the Church. 
The Maria Pratt Missionary Society, the Westminster League of C. 
E., and the Junior League, are all doing excellent work and the last 
named society, the "Juniors," is supporting a girl in the Synod's 
Orphanage, at Lynchburg, Virginia. With gratitude to God for His 
great favor and blessing, and with the most cordial affection for the 
old mother Church as she now completes a century of useful labors in 
the Master's service, we lay this small contribution on the altar, and 
pray for grace to attempt to achieve yet larger things for Him to 
whom all praise is due. 

SKETCH OF OLIVET CHURCH, BY REV. E. B. DRUEN. 

In the spring of 1872, some children from the East End of Staun- 
ton, near the National Cemetery, strayed into the First Presbyterian 
Church. Their coming led eventually to the starting, by some of the 
ladies of that Church, of a mission Sunday School in the house of 
Mrs. Burf ord, some two miles below the city. Mr. T. B. Coleman, 
an elder of the First Church, held meetings for prayer and instruction 
in the Word of God. Mrs. D. A. Kayser was prime mover in this 
work, and with the aid of teachers from the Church, a regular Sunday 
School was soon organized. 

These faithful workers labored, under trials and discouragements, 
until March, 1875, at which time arrangements were made between 
Mrs. Kayser and others interested, and the trustees of Bolivar School 
District, for the building of a school house, it being agreed between 
them that the friends of the mission should contribute $150.00 towards 
the cost of the building, and that, in consideration of this contribution, 
they should be allowed to use the building on Sundays for Sabbath 
School and religious services. 

Sunday School was first held in this building in April, 1875. It 
was called Bolivar Sunday School, and continued to be known by that 
name until June, 1881. Religious services were held regularly by 
Rev. Wm. E. Baker and Rev. J. E. Booker. From the first, the 
attendance was both large and regular. The records show that from 
August 18 to December 18, 1878, the average attendance was eight 
teachers and fifty-eight scholars. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



In 1880 the sum of $350.00 was contributed by members of the 
First Presbyterian Church, by persons in the neighborhood and others, 
and this sum, together with $100.00 returned by the trustees of Bolivar 
School District, was used in building the present Church. The land 
for the site was donated by Messrs. John and David Doom. The 
organ and the bell were given by Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Kayser. Ser- 
vices were held in the Church for the first time on June 5, 1881, and 
the name "Olivet Chapel," selected by Mrs. Kayser, was given to it. 

Rev. J. E. Booker ministered to this congregation, during the 
winter, until 1896, the work being done during the summer months by 
theological students. Through the blessing of God, upon the faithful 
Sunday School teaching, and the preaching of the Word, some 
seventy-five persons were led to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as 
their Savior, most of them uniting with the First Church, in Staunton. 

In 1897, " Olivet Chapel " was organized as a Church, under the 
name of "Olivet Church," with three ruling elders and six deacons. 
The first pastor was Rev. R. C. Gilmore, who preached his first ser- 
mon on February, 6, 1898. He continued in the pastorate until 
August, 1902. During his ministry the Church grew and prospered 
encouragingly. 

From August, 1902, when Rev. R. C. Gilmore resigned as pastor, 
until May, 1904, the Church had no pastor, though repeated and 
earnest efforts were made to secure one. But during this period of 
nearly two years the Church had a supply for most of the time, first 
in the Rev. W. L. Bailey and then in the Rev. W. A. Black, of the 
United Brethren Church, who ministered very acceptably to this 
Church. 

In May, 1904, the Rev. E. B. Druen, was installed as the second 
pastor of this Church. The membership numbers sixty-five and the 
proportion of earnest, faithful church workers is unusually large. The 
Sunday School now numbers 150, with four officers and twelve teachers, 
with an average attendance of 100. 

Only last night we closed a very pleasant and successful meeting 
in this Church conducted by Rev. J. Spencer Smith. God owned and 
blessed the preaching of His word and as a result seventeen have ex- 
pressed their intention to unite with this church on next Sabbath. 

The First Presbyterian Church feels the deepest interest in the 
work of this, its daughter Church, and contributes liberally to its 
support. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



During the Centennial Celebration of the First Pres- 
byterian Church of Staunton, a meeting was held in the 
Chapel of Mary Baldwin Seminary, Thursday Evening, 
October 27, 1904, and the following program was rendered: 

AN EVENING IN THE OLD CHURCH 

1 Ballade A Flat Chopin 

Miss Topping 

2 Abide With Me Liddle 

Miss Parsons 

3 Centennial Hymn Whittier 

L' Envoi Kipling 

Miss Frost 

4 Heard Ye His Voice Rubinstein 

Miss Elsie Hamilton 

5 Rhapsodie G Minor Brahms 

Nocturn B Major Chopin 

Meditation Tschaikowsky 

Miss Topping 

6 Rest in the Lord Mendelssohn (Elijah) 

Miss Parsons 

7 God of the Open Air Van Dyke 

Miss Frost 

8 Hungarian Fantasie Liszt 

Misses Topping and Rosa Munger 

After the program was concluded Hon. Joseph A. Wad- 
dell was called upon to make an address. The following is 
about what he said or what he should have said: 

I think I am a very accommodating man to rise before this 
audience to speak without any preparation. Dr. Fraser wants me to 
say something. I wish I knew what he wants me to say, I would gladly 
say it. Of course he wants something about old times. It seems to 
me that I am considered the Methuselah of this community, and when- 
ever any information is desired about old times, I am called upon, but 
there is a lady in this assembly, who has a good memory and could 
tell much more than I can, if she would only mount the platform and 
speak out. Having no speech prepared, I must think of something to 
say as I go along and perhaps I shall ramble a good deal. 

The first thing that struck my attention when I came into this 
hall to-night, was that the hall was much narrower than the old 
Church. Yet I know that the hall was built on the foundation of the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Church, and must be the exact width of the Church. So we find gen- 
erally as we grow older, distances appear shorter, hills lower and 
houses smaller. 

My memory goes back to the last year or two of the pastorate of 
the Rev. Joseph Smith. I will not say how long ago that is — it would 
make me appear very old. Strange to say I do not remember Mr. 
Smith as he appeared in the pulpit, from which I infer that he was 
not a tedious preacher, and had nothing odd or eccentric in his ap- 
pearance or manners. Another preacher of that time I remember 
most distinctly. He was the Rev. Mr. Thatcher, principal of a school 
for girls, or "young ladies" perhaps I should say, and he frequently 
took Mr. Smith's place in the pulpit at night service. He was a tall, 
gaunt man, and his sermons were very long and tedious. One Sunday 
night, I was in the family pew as usual, and while Mr. Thatcher was 
preaching, I went to sleep. When I woke up he was preaching still. 
I went to sleep again — even the snuffing of the candles by the sexton 
every twenty or thirty minutes, which I always enjoyed, could not 
keep me awake— and when I awoke Mr. Thatcher was still preaching. 
So it went on until my patience was exhausted. Then I stretched my 
arms and cried aloud to my mother: "Let's go home, Mr. Thatcher 
is going to preach all night ! " 

Speaking of sextons, the official at that time was a free black man 
called Bob Campbell. He was the town barber as well as sexton, and 
also dealt in horses, making frequent trips to Richmond to sell his 
stock. He was very pompous, and I stood in much awe of him. His 
knowledge of figures was somewhat defective, however. On one 
occasion, after his returning from a trip, being asked how many horses 
he took to market, replied: "Between eleven and ten." The sexton was 
often too important a person about the church in old times to be 
omitted. 

I was made to go to church night and day, awake or asleep. Be- 
ing too young to attend to the preaching, my eyes, when awake, 
roamed around the house in search of entertainment, and I remember 
every person who attended church at that time, and would recognize 
them if they rose from the dead and appeared before me. I partic- 
ularly remember Katy and Harriet Woolwine, mother and daughter, 
who sat in the eastern "amen corner" in full view of me. A good old 
lady sat in a pew immediately before me. She sang very loud, and 
she sang through her nose. There were no Italian trills or high art 
or melody in her singing, but she sang with the spirit and understand- 
ing. Dear old lady! I wish I could hear her now. She seemed to 
enjoy it so. Her heart was in it. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



You must allow me to wander around as I remember things, or I 
shall have to quit speaking. That word ' 'wander" reminds me of two 
old negro men with whom I was personally acquainted in my early 
boyhood. They did not patronize the Church much, being preachers 
themselves. One of them was named Louey and the other Abram. 
There was some rivalry between them, and Uncle Louey was accus- 
tomed to say, * 'Brother Abram is a very good preacher, but he can't 
take a text and wander from it as I can. ' ' 

As I am wandering like "Uncle Louey," I will state another anec- 
dote, suggested by the fact that I was compelled by my parents to go 
to Church as soon as I could walk there. I am inclined to think that 
way. Christian parents make a mistake just there. They seem to 
think that if they take their children to Church against their will it 
will give them a distaste to the Church and religion. That was not 
my experience. A father makes his boy go to school whether he 
wishes to go or not, and if he allows the boy to stay away from Church, 
he is apt to think that the Church and religion, itself, are of little or 
no importance. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the celebrated English poet 
and philosopher, related an anecdote about himself which illustrates 
the benefit of wholesome discipline in connection with religion. When 
he was a school boy, there was a Bible lesson all the pupils were re- 
quired to attend. On one occasion he stayed away, and when he was 
called up about the matter, he boldly planted himself on his right to 
"religious liberty." He said he did not believe the Bible— he was an 
infidel. If the teacher had undertaken to correct him, it would only 
have confirmed him in his self-conceit; but he was too wise a man to 
do that. He gave him the worst whipping he ever had in his life, and 
from that time he never had a doubt about the truth of the Bible. 

Years passed away. Another Smith was at the forge — in other 
words, the Rev. B. M. Smith was pastor of this Church. And now 
I have come to the only suggestion Dr. Fraser made to me. He said 
he wanted me to tell about Miss Baldwin as a Sunday School teacher. 
But first I must allude to the sexton of this period. His name was 
Martin Weigand, a native of Bavaria, Germany. He had gone to 
Greece with King Oscar, when the latter became King of that country, 
and finally found his way to Staunton, when he could speak scarcely a 
word of English. He obtained employment, and soon proved himself 
a thrifty and well-behaved man. He became sexton of the Church, 
having previously married Harriet Woolwine, whom I have mentioned. 

For a time he prospered, but his wife died, and he afterwards be- 
came distrusted. He abandoned the property he had acquired and wan- 
dered off — as I am doing — and nobody, hereabouts, knows what became 
of him. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



But to return— I had become a young man, and Miss Baldwin 
a young woman. I had known her all her life after a way— seeing her 
at preaching and Sunday School, and meeting her now and then in the 
streets. Until I got married, she seemed to have no use for me 
whatever, and once declined some attention I offered her. That 
settled me once for all. She was not a "society woman" and I never 
attempted to play the beau with her again. She was a highly cultured 
woman. 

Having been a Sunday School scholar all my boyhood days, 
I thought I ought to try my hand now as teacher. I had a class of 
small boys in the eastern gallery of the old Church. Did any of you 
ever have such a class? If so, you know what I suffered. The boys 
were not bad nor rude, but inattentive, and I failed utterly to interest 
them. One of them I induced to commit the Shorter Catechism, and 
he rattled it off very glibly. Alas ! as far as I know, it did him no 
good. Another is now called Colonel, not that he ever commanded 
a regiment, but he is so big, that he is entitled to high military rank. 
I was in a state of chronic discouragement. After getting through 
with the lesson, I could only sit there, trying to keep the boys quiet 
and waiting for the school to close. 

Here I must tell about the music we had at Sunday School at 
that time. One day, the Rev. Mr. Bailey, founder of this Seminary, 
conducted the public exercises of the school. He gave out a hymn, 
but the usual leader was absent, and it was intimated to me that 
I must start the tune. I declined, but the request was repeated. 
Hymn books were scarce, and Mr. Bailey began to "parcel out the 
lines." He read the first two lines, and I determined to try my skill 
as precentor. I started, and other teachers striking in prompty, we 
got through the two lines successfully. Mr. Bailey read two more 
lines, but by that time I had forgotten the tune— it was impossible for 
me to remember words and tune both. There was a dead silence, 
and we had no more singing that day. A friend of mine made 
a similar attempt once, and failed as I did. His sister rebuked him 
when he returned home, saying "You knew you couldn't do it." He 
replied, "No, I didn't know it. I had never tried, but I know it 
now." 

I am wandering again, and must come back to the Sunday School. 
While I was waiting for the school to close, I could not help observing 
a class in the western gallery. The class, composed of girls, was full 
to overflowing, and the teacher was Miss Baldwin. Teacher and 
scholars were busy every minute — all were alive to what was going on 
in the class. Some of the scholars had been attending there from 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



childhood to womanhood. I could not hear a word that was spoken, 
and could only gaze and wonder, and perhaps envy the skill evidently 
displayed by the teacher. 

Other years passed. Being now a married man, and no longer a 
beau, Miss Baldwin began to recognize me as an old acquaintance. 
She had some little business matters she got me to attend to. She 
was living with her maternal grandmother, and paid no board, but did 
not have means for entire self-support. She told me if she survived 
her grandmother, she would endeavor to obtain a school of girls; that 
she desired, above all other things, to teach young girls. She had 
taught, with some assistance, a charity school for several years, there 
being no public free schools here at the time; and after her grand- 
mother's death, she opened a regular school in the town. 

By that time the second year of the late war had arrived, and it 
was evident to me that the gentleman who was then principal of the 
Seminary, then known as Augusta Female Seminary, would soon 
resign. I suggested to Miss Baldwin that she and Miss Agnes 
McClung should take charge of the Seminary as joint principals. They 
both ridiculed the idea. Miss Baldwin said she did not have the 
scholarship fitting her for the position. I replied that she could get 
other teachers as she required them. I persisted, telling her what I 
had observed of her skill in teaching and managing a Sunday School, 
and insisted that she had a peculiar talent for the position. She and 
Miss McClung became accustomed to the suggestion, and finally, when 
the resignation referred to took place, they submitted to their fate 
and were ushered in. That's the way the famous Mary Baldwin 
Seminary began, the name of the institution having been changed by 
Act of the State Legislature. 

And now, young ladies of the Seminary, if any of you are ambi- 
tious to be principal of such an institution, I exhort you to give your- 
selves to teaching a class, it may be in the gallery of an old church, 
and it may be you will attain to the same distinction. 

But seriously, young ladies, I commend to you the example of 
the two ladies of whom I have just spoken. The mind of the one 
was highly cultivated ; the other did not pretend to scholarship, but 
she possessed a natural good sense which made her judgment almost 
unerring, and a kindliness of heart that won the love of all who knew 
her. The former, accomplished as she was, leaned upon the latter, 
and after her death declared that she had never failed to follow her 
advice without regretting it— that her death was the greatest affliction 
she had ever experiened. She was eminent for goodness, coupled 
with good sense. The homesick girls nestled around her as if she had 
been their mother. While tenderly caring for them, she sternly in- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



sisted upon perfect rectitude of conduct, never tolerating the least 
tendency to deception. Of both ladies, it may be said they "came 
not to be ministered unto, but to minister." I never heard either of 
them complain of want or personal discomfort. Neither was wealthy, 
and one was poor at the beginning of their career, but they sought not 
riches. Each sought to promote the welfare of others. Thus they led 
useful and happy lives. If you wish to be useful and happy, seek, by 
Divine help the same characteristics, and do likewise. 



SERMON PREACHED BY REV. J. W. ROSEBRO, D. D. 

Romans XII: 1. I count it a great privilege to take part in this 
Centennial Celebration. One who has ever lived in "The Valley" is 
always glad to return and meet the noble people of this favored 
region. I am glad to be a part of what your honored elder in his 
address of welcome has so happily called, "the family gathering"; 
especially now that you know that your loved pastor is to remain 
with you. 

These Centennial Celebrations are not merely to gratify our 
sentiments, though that is well. They make us look back over all 
the way the Lord our God has led us these hundred years and count 
their many mercies. They bring back the remembrance of what our 
fathers and mothers did for Christ and the Church. Our hearts were 
tender as your venerable historian whom you all hold in such affec- 
tionate honor, brought before us the vivid picture of the congregation 
which worshipped in the old Church in the days of his youth. They 
make us love the Church and "prize her heavenly ways"; they make 
us sing with deeper tone — "Our God, our help in ages past"; "Thus 
far the Lord has led me on," and as we think on these mercies be led 
to a truer, more loving service. 

It is this service I wish to press on our hearts to-day, and to 
raise the question whether it is a 

"Reasonable Service. " The service demanded of us is not a light 
one. We must accept God as our Sovereign who has the right to rule 
our whole life. We must accept Jesus as our Master who has the 
right to say to us "go," and we must go where he bids ; "come" and 
we must obey. We must love Him more than husband or wife or 
child; more than houses or lands. He demands that whether we eat 
or drink or whatsoever we do, we must do all in His glory. He tells 
us we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him; 
that we must bear suffering or pain or loss without murmuring; yea 
even to die if need be at His will. 

Is it reasonable that we should render such a service? 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



In answer to this question, see, First: Who claims this of us? It 
is our God. The corner stone on which rests our obligation to serve is 
to be found in the being and character of God. 

One of the primal facts of man's nature is that he must have some 
god. This is proved by the testimony of all peoples in all ages. The 
most enlightened nations as well as those sunk in the most degraded 
ignorance and sin worship some god. It is true their gods were "like 
to corruptible man and birds and beasts and creeping things.' 7 It is 
true that their worship often led to cruelty, uncleanness and lusts. 
Still it shows that man feels the need of a god. Man is a dependent 
creature. He was not made to stand alone like the oak. He is like 
the vine. The vine must cling to and depend on something. Its 
tendrils are its hands with which it clasps and clings. If it has no 
support it will fall prone, but it will still cling to something; to a broken 
stick, to a clod, or even to itself. Give it a support and it will climb 
as high as its support and bring forth fruit. God made it so. 

So is man. He must have some god to cling to. Our God is high 
and lifted up; glorious in His being and character; infinitely above 
man's highest conception are His majesty and glory; "infinite, eternal 
and unchangeable in His being and wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
goodness and truth." He is our Creator, Preserver, constant and 
kind Benefactor, who is blessed forever. He is worthy to receive the 
worship, praise and love of all His creatures. 

Not only is He thus lifted up infinitely above us, but He has 
stooped in compassion to be our Father, that He might make us His 
dear children. Yea, He stooped to clothe Himself in human form and 
nature that He might come still nearer to us. Thus in His human 
nature Jesus is by our side, so near that our faith can cling to Him; 
yet is He God over all so that clinging to Him and striving to be like 
Him, we climb higher and higher, till we shall be "like Him." Is it 
not reasonable that we should serve a God so infinitely worthy of the 
deepest love and worship and who has so graciously provided for the 
utmost need of our soul? 

Second: The second proof of the reasonableness of this service is 
found in the "mercies of God." We take as the example of these 
mercies the justification of the ungodly. Here again we face one of the 
primal needs of man's soul. The oldest book of the world gives us 
this cry of the heart, "How shall man be just with God?" The ages 
give no answer that satisfies. Men have said, I will offer thousands of 
sacrifices on the altar of my god. But thousands of rams and ten 
thousands of rivers of oil have not brought peace. Men have said I 
will afflict my body with fastings and scourgings; I will shut myself 
from the comforts and joys of home and love that I may give days 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and nights to prayer and afflicting my soul; but still the answer of 
peace came not. They have even said I will give ' 'the fruit of my body 
for the sin of my soul." Mothers brought their little babes and laid 
this costliest of sacrifices in the red hot hands of Moloch to be con- 
sumed for their sin. The cry for pardon and peace was not answered, 
there was added to that cry, the dying wail of the babe to linger in 
the mother's heart as a torturing memory! The "multitudinous seas" 
could not wash the stain of blood from the soul of Macbeth; nor could 
the little hand of his guilty wife e'er be clean or her sorely charged 
heart ever cease to cry out its agony of anguish, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" 

God answers this great cry of the world by saying, "I even I am He 
who blotteth out thy transgressions," though your sins "be red like 
crimson' ' ' 'they shall be as white as snow. ' ' How does He accomplish 
this? Recall Paul'? masterly argument to which our text is the con- 
clusion. Black is the picture he gives of man's sin; Jew and Gentile 
are alike under condemnation, yet, by the mercy of God all may be 
justified by faith and thus have peace with God. Thus, by faith in 
Christ who died for us, each may have his heart cry answered. 
Countless thousands have come like burdened Christian in Pilgrim's 
Progress and stood beneath the cross, as they looked with penitence and 
faith on Him who was bearing their sins and dying for their guilt, 
somehow the burden rolled away and they found rest unto their souls. 

Never was answer found to this question of the ages, "How shall 
man be just with God?" till the gospel of God's love and grace pro- 
claimed that Jesus should save His people from their sins. The ocean 
can not wash the blood stain from guilty Macbeth, but 

There is a fountain filled with blood 

Drawn from Immanuel's veins, 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood 

Lose all their guilty stains. 

Is it not reasonable we should serve God whose mercy is so great? 

We argue again that this is a reasonable service, because only in 
this way can we reach our highest happiness in this life and in the 
life to come. Many have the idea that religion shuts us off from 
most of the pleasure of this life, though it offers pleasures forever- 
more in a world to come; that it hems us in and is ever saying "thou 
shalt not do this"; that it sternly points to a narrow way and relent- 
lessly punishes all who wander from it. We do not want to lose the 
life to come, therefore, we will take religion as a penance we pay for 
what we shall receive hereafter. Blot out the woes of the life to 
come and we would be happier without religion. It was with this lie 



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the devil seduced Eve. She would be a happier and higher being if 
she cast off God's claims to her love and obedience. Alas! by bitter, 
bitter experience she found her mistake and sin. 

God is the "Happy God." He delights in mercy. He is love. 
Could He demand of us what would make us unhappy? Are not all 
His commands wise and holy and good? Every preacher here to-day 
has talked with those standing near eternity; have you ever heard 
one regret that he had tried to serve God? You have talked with 
aged Christians who for a lifetime had served the Lord; have you 
ever heard one say, "Had I but served the world as I have served my 
God, I would not be left desolate now?" Have you ever heard one 
regret the great mistake made in serving Christ with heart and mind 
and body? 

Many have we heard deplore that they had not served Him better; 
that they had not presented themselves as living sacrifices; that they 
had not begun earlier in life; that their zeal had flagged and their 
love grown cold; but never one whose joy was not that he had served 
the Lord. 

Now, I ask is it not a reasonable service we are called to render to 
such a God? Is it not a reasonable service to give under such mercies? 
Is it not reasonable to give it when only thus can we reach our highest 
happiness and well-being? Can any service we render be too great? 
If He says to you fathers and mothers give me your child to labor for 
me in China, in Africa can you say, "It is too much for me to give?" 
If He will that you be a child of pain and by your submission and 
cheerful patience glorify Him, shall you not do it? If He tells thee 
to deny thyself that you may the more freely give to the need of His 
poor, is that too much to ask when He made Himself poor that He 
might make thee rich? 

See what courage and sacrifice the soldiers of Japan are showing 
for love of their emperor. After one of Napoleon's fearful battles a 
member of the Old Guard was laid on the table that the surgeon might 
cut out a bullet buried in his breast. The surgeon hesitated lest the 
knife was going too deep — "Cut deeper and you will find the emperor" 
said the brave soldier. Shall not the soldiers of Christ have His 
name deeper in their hearts than any other? Shall they not be willing 
to say in all humility but in truth, ' 'Let us die if need be for our 
King. ' ' 

Yes, they have done so. God has specially called the Presbyterian 
family to suffer great things for Him. With the blood of her children 
has been written the names of most of the noble army of martyrs. 
Along the dykes of Holland; in the fertile plains of France; or on the 
mountain slopes of Switzerland; on England's green fields; amid the 



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mountains and valleys of Scotland, have they contended for liberty and 
for God, and made the world their debtors. It is an honor to belong 
to the number of those who have written one of the most glorious 
pages in the history of the Kingdom of Christ. It is an honor, too, to 
be the descendants of the men and women who labored and suffered 
for the inheritance you have in this Church, and the call to love and 
service is loud and strong. 

By all the memories of these one hundred years; by this memorial 
stone we, to-day, set up; by the saintly lives of the fathers and 
mothers who here finished their work; by all that the cross of our 
Lord tells us of His love and sacrifice; by all the mercies of God are 
we called to present ourselves as living sacrifices, to hold fast to the 
faith delivered to us and to count all we can do for the Church and 
Christ as our "reasonable service." 

For her my tears shall fall; 

For her my prayers ascend; 
To her my cares and toils be given, 

Till toils and cares shall end. 



PRESBYTERIAN BEGINNINGS IN VIRGINIA, BY REV. JAMES P. SMITH 

Fathers and Brethren : 

A year or two ago, in an old Virginia home, surrounded by 
portraits and relics of one of the most honored families of Colonial 
Virginia, I was seeking with great interest the story and traditions 
of a great name, when a descendant bearing that name asked with 
a grave simplicity, "You have to be an old man do you not, to take 
interest in such things?" I suppose it is true in good degree, the 
old for the past and the young for the future. But it is because we 
are deeply interested in the future and what our young people will 
make of it that we gather the facts of the past. We would give 
security, strength and guidance to the young who reach out so 
earnestly into the coming years. The gun which is to have a steady 
aim must have a strong shoulder back of it. 

In a short hour, I am to condense a history, about which many 
good volumes have been written, and about which many more will yet 
be gathered on our library shelves. But I must not forget that I am 
not writing a history, but I am to make a brief address, bringing to 
a popular assembly something to interest, as well as inform, about 
the earlier days of the people of the Presbyterian faith in the Old 
Dominion. 

Francis Makemie. In the library of Union Theological Semi- 
nary, at Richmond, is the very curious old desk of Francis Makemie, 
the first ordained Presbyterian minister in Virginia, and probably in 



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America, of whom we have any knowledge. It is the oldest and most 
interesting relic of American Presbyterianism in existence to-day. 
It is a striking fact that there should be left to us, not the chair as that 
of John Wesley, which is in London, or the pulpit as that of George 
Whitefield, which is in Philadelphia, but the desk of Makemie, for 
he was a man of the pen, and of papers, and cared for the affairs of 
many people, as well as his own. 

Francis Makemie, a native of Donegal, Ireland, educated at a 
Scotch University, was ordained by the Presbytery of Laggan, Ire- 
land, in 1680, that he might be sent to America as an evangelist, in 
response to the petition of Judge Stevens, of Lord Baltimore's Council 
in Maryland. After a sojourn in Barbadoes, Makemie came, in 1684, 
to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and at Snow Hill found a group of 
Presbyterians, Irish and Scotch-Irish. He was an educated and able 
minister of the Gospel; a man "of energy, activity and courage. He 
is described as a minister of eminent piety and strong intellectual 
power, with a fascinating address, conspicuous for natural endow- 
ments and for his dignity and for his fitness as a Christian minister. ' ' 
He entered upon an active ministry, and preached with power and 
effect in the peninsula of Maryland and Virginia, and was heard in 
many places from Boston and New York to Charleston, S. C. 

He crossed the ocean twice to seek other ministers for the Amer- 
ican colonies. He organized the first Presbytery in America, at Phil- 
adelphia, in 1706. He was arrested in Accomac for preaching and 
carried to Williamsburg, where before the Governor and Council he 
bore himself with such dignity, and spoke with such force, that he was 
granted license to preach anywhere in the Colony of Virginia. He 
was arrested in New York, 1707, and by Lord Cornbery angrily sent 
to prison. For two months he lay in jail in Manhattan, until at a 
hearing in court he so convinced the court of his right, under the English 
Act of Toleration, that he was again set free, with an unjust infliction 
of fees and charges of more than $400. Before the Colonial Assembly 
of New York the case of Makemie secured the adoption of the Tolera- 
tion Act. His was one of the first voices raised in America for religious 
liberty and the freedom of the Gospel. His sermon in New York on 
the text, "We ought to obey God rather than man," was printed in 
Boston, and largely helped to educate public sentiment. He founded 
churches, after the Presbyterian order on the Eastern Shore and else- 
where, which abide to-day. Francis Makemie was the father of the 
American Presbyterian Church. For twenty-five years he fought the 
battle of the rights of conscience, and broke down the barriers of 
intolerance and proscription. He laid the foundation of Presbytery, 



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on which have been built all English speaking Presbyterian Churches 
of this country. He died in Accomac, in 1708, and his grave at Snow 
Hill, Maryland, has been marked by a fitting monument. 

Mr. Makemie, in 1684, a year after he came to the Eastern Shore, 
crossed from Cape Charles, and found at Lynn Haven, on the south 
side of Hampton Roads, a congregation of dissenting Christians, 
mourning greatly over the death of their pastor, Rev. James Porter. 
Whether they were English Puritans or Scotch Presbyterians, we do not 
know. He made them repeated visits, and, in 1692, secured for them 
a pastor in the Presbyterian, Rev. Josias Mackie. Mr. Mackie had 
four preaching places on Elizabeth River, in what is now Norfolk 
County, and this was the origin of the Presbyterian Church of Norfolk. 
It claims to be the first regularly organized Presbyterian Church, not 
only in Virginia, but in America. 

Nonconformists on the South Side. English Puritans came to 
this country with the first Protestant settlements, under the Stuarts 
in England, who had war and not peace for those who would not con- 
form in everything to the Church of Henry VIII. The best of English 
Puritans came in colonies and settled along the Atlantic coast. They 
had not separated from the English Church nor divided themselves 
into Presbyterian Puritans (Barrowites) or Congregational Puritans 
(Brownites) but gathering in the new settlements, they were Cal- 
vinists in faith, and believed in the government of the congregation 
by elders. 

Rev. Alexander Whitaker came to Virginia, with Sir Thomas 
Dale, in 1611. He was "the self-denying Apostle of Virginia." He 
was an earnest and evangelical Christian minister. When he wrote 
back to England for young, godly, earnest ministers for Virginia, he 
said: "Young men are fittest for this country, and we have no need 
of ceremonies or livers." His successor, in 1618, was Rev. George 
Keith, a Scotch Nonconformist, settled at Elizabeth City. At Barba- 
does he was associated with Rev. Lewis Hughes, who writes home : 
" Ceremonies are in no request, nor the Book of Common Prayer. I 
use it not at all. I have, by the help of God, begun a church govern- 
ment of ministers and elders. ' ' 

A body of such English Puritans settled on the south side of 
James River in Nansemond and Suffolk. They were of the reformed 
faith, and a local Presbyterian organization, and refused to conform 
to the English Church. Among them were men of property and the 
highest standing in the Colony. General Richard Bennett, a wealthy 
planter of Nansemond, soldier, statesman, Christian gentleman and 
Governor of the Colony of Virginia, was an elder of this nonconform- 
ing church. Daniel Gookins, Sr., founder of Newport News and a 



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proprietor in Nansemond, and his son Daniel Gookins, Jr., were leaders 
among these people, and of high standing in the Colony. In the 
midst of these English nonconforming people, in 1632, the old church 
near Smithfield was erected, and has lately been restored. Was it 
built by these nonconforming people? It would be a strange thing if 
it were not so. In 1641, nine years later, this dissenting people 
asked from New England for three ministers. There were three 
charges, in 1641, on the southside of the James, and certainly two dis- 
senting ministers came. Under the persecution of Governor Berkeley 
these Puritan people of the Southside were driven away, and found 
welcome and toleration in Maryland. Berkeley wanted neither public 
schools nor printing nor Presbyterians in his Colony, and we are in- 
debted to the intolerant old Tory for grouping Presbyterians with 
printing and public schools. He was correct in his grouping. 

Huguenots in Virginia. French Protestant refugees began 
coming to America as early as 1623. They were the founders of New 
Amsterdam, now the great metropolis, New York. They spoke French, 
they professed the faith of their countryman, John Calvin, and they 
organized Presbyterian Churches. As severities increased in France, 
the immigration increased, and the French Protestants, or Huguenots, 
settled in many places from Massachusetts to South Carolina. An im- 
measurable loss to France, they were of great value to Holland and 
to England, and especially to the new Colonies on the American 
shores. Industrious and thrifty, they were never a burden wherever 
they went, but an immediate addition to production and wealth. They 
were a people brought into a strong, individual manhood, by their 
Calvinistic faith. The influence of this exiled people in moulding the 
character of the American people has been great, far beyond the pro- 
portion of their numbers. Their names are on the roll of American 
patriots, statesmen, soldiers, philanthropists, and ministers of 
religion. They have furnished men of note in every calling. William 
of Orange was greatly indebted to the Huguenot exiles. They built 
factories and began the vast manufacturing development of England. 
In the wars with Louis XIV there were about 700 French officers in 
the English regiments, and three full regiments of French Protestants. 
When, therefore, they came to Virginia, about 1700, they were 
received with favor. A reservation of 10,000 acres was laid off for 
them on the south side of the James, twenty miles above the falls, or 
Richmond, at Manikin, where had been the tribe of Mohican Indians. 

Under Pastor de Richbourg, this reservation was made a parish 
called "King William," in Henrico County, and exempted for seven 
years both from general and local taxation. There were, perhaps, 
seven or eight hundred in the settlement at Manikin town, but they 



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soon scattered and made their homes in many counties of Eastern 
Virginia. They were disciples of John Calvin, and Presbyterians. 
They did not come to perish. They were a vigorous and active 
people, of pure morals and religious intelligence. They multiplied 
until they almost occupied the land. It would scarcely be possible to 
name the families, whose names are familiar, and some of them on 
the roll of Virginia's most famous men— Fontaines and Flournoys, 
Maryes and Maurys, Dabneys and Dupuys, Cockes and Chandlers, 
Legrand, Fourqurean, Bondurant, Micheaux, Lacy, Bernard, Watkins, 
Moncure, Micou, Latane. They have furnished a large and valuable 
element of the people who were gathered into Presbyterian Churches 
by Samuel Davies, in all the Southside of Virginia — in Cumberland, 
Buckingham, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Halifax, Amelia 
and Nottoway. Their children have gone throughout the land. 

A French maiden, Susannah Rochette, called by her sisters "The 
Little Night-Cap," was sent in a hogshead on board a ship from a 
French port to England. She married one Abraham Michaux, of her 
own people, and after some years in Holland, they came to this 
country. They landed in Stafford, on the Potomac, and thence went 
to Manikin town, and made a home on the Southside. Their children 
married Woodson and Venable and Morton and Watkins and Carring- 
ton. The descendants of ' ' The Little Night-Cap ' ' are as numerous 
as the sands of the seashore. They are largely the Presbyterian ele- 
ment of Eastern Virginia and Southside Virginia, and are found in 
Briery, Cub Creek, Charlotte C. H., and many other churches. 

A New Life Coming. When Makemie died in 1708, quite remote 
from the Eastern Shore, and unknown to the Presbyterians of Acco- 
mac and Elizabeth River, there was coming a stream of new life into 
Virginia. There were Presbyterians at "Potomoke," somewhere in 
the lower Valley of the Shenandoah who petitioned the Synod of New 
York, in 1720, that a minister be sent to them. When four years 
before that, in 1716, Governor Spotswood and his company of gentle- 
men rode from Germanna, on the Rapidan, and peeped over the Blue 
Ridge, at Swift Run Gap, they saw a goodly land, a gleaming river, a 
great forest and a long mountain wall beyond. They camped by the 
beautiful river ; they drank of their many liquors ; they toasted the 
king ; they buried a bottle, with a written memorial of their trans- 
montane expedition; and they went home thinking that in all the 
great wilderness there was no white settler. But down near Shep- 
herdstown, south of the Potomac, in an old graveyard, is one stone to 
the memory of a German woman who died in 1707. 

About three years before Spotswood's famous expedition, in 1713, 
the immigration to America had begun from the north of Ireland. 



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They were Scotch Presbyterians who had come to Ireland in "the 
planting of Ulster, " and later were somewhat mingled with English 
Puritans and the Huguenot migration. But the people who had saved 
the day for their king at the gates of Derry, and made Ulster a pros- 
perous and orderly land, were not permitted to dwell in peace. Under 
the Test Act these Prestyterian people were made exceedingly un- 
comfortable. They could hold no office; they could not be married by 
their own ministers; lands were leased by bishops and landlords, with 
clauses forbidding the erection of meeting houses. The Schism Act 
of 1714 would have swept the Presbyterian Church out of existence in 
Ireland, had not Queen Anne died before it came into operation. The 
Presbyterian people of Ulster, estranged and wearied by the long pro- 
scriptions and exactions, began to leave the country by thousands. 
For nearly forty years, without intermission, the stream flowed to the 
American shores. There, in the wilderness of a new country, they 
hoped to enjoy, with the blessing of God, that ease and quiet of con- 
science, that freedom to serve God in their own way, and that happiness 
of home which was denied them in their native land. But the hand of 
God was in that great migration. To the new and unexplored Con- 
tinent, a land of large proportions, with great forests, great rivers 
and great mountains, sparsely occupied with wandering , tribes of 
Indians, it sent a hardy race, with indomitable courage and unfailing 
fortitude, untrammeled by love of ease or habits of luxury. Physically 
and morally they were the people to conquer the wilderness, to resist 
the ravages of American Indians, to slay the wild beasts of the forest, 
to climb the mountain passes and ford the great rivers, and press on, 
to make their homes, and find their freedom and build a noble civiliza- 
tion. The Scotch-Irish came into Eastern Pennsylvania, and not cor- 
dially received by those who were there before them, passed on into 
the country west of the Alleghanies and made the strong population of 
Western Pennsylvania in many counties, filled to this day with Presby- 
terian churches. Then a stream turned south and crossed the Potomac 
into the great Virginia Valley, and passed on and on up the Valley in- 
to and through Augusta and Rockbridge, and dividing again, went 
into the splendid Southwest of Virginia, to spread themselves in Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee, or turned East over the Blue Ridge to find 
homes in the Southside, and extend farther down through the Pied- 
mont of the Carolinas. There were many "Macs," whose fathers 
came from the Highlands of Scotland, and many English names, and 
some French Huguenots. And all of them, Calvinist and Presbyterian, 
welded together by a common faith and witness for the truth, and by a 
common experience of persecution and exile, in the new continent 



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bravely began their indomitable exertions for freedom and religion, 
for the right and privilege of free men to make their bread and to 
build their altars. Along the western valley, from the Potomac to the 
Holston, they settled. 

They f elled the giant trees and built their cabins, and cleared their 
fields. They lived on game and fish until they made their bread from 
Virginia soil. They contended with beasts and fought the red Indians. 
They made a wall of defence of manly breasts, which was the protection 
of all the English settlements on the eastern rivers of Virginia. They 
were the people of West Augusta, to which Washington declared he 
would look for defense in the last resort. 

Settlements in the Valley. It is an old tradition that the 
first white man to make his home in the Valley was a Welshman. 
Morgan Morgan was his name and he lived at Bunker Hill, between 
Winchester and Martinsburg. That was in 1726. And Joist Hite, 
with sixteen families, in 1732, came south of Winchester about six 
miles. Dr. Foote says * 'it was the first regular settlement west of the 
Blue Ridge in Virginia." 

Three years later another settlement of Scotch-Irish was made 
yet farther up on the Opequon River, and now the migration set in in 
a steady stream. At Opequon the name of William Hoge appears, 
"an exile for Christ's sake from Scotland in the days of persecution," 
the American ancestor of the family which for four or five genera- 
tions has given men of power and eloquence to the Presbyterian 
pulpit. With him were Vances and Glasses and Whites, whose 
descendants are with us to this day, true to the faith of their fathers. 
Dr. Foote in his invaluable Sketches says that Opequon was the first 
church in which was gathered the first Presbyterian congregation 
west of the Blue Ridge. The old Stone Church has been rebuilt in 
late years, and with its green lawns about it, and its well-cared-for 
church yard, where the first comers rest in their tombs, it is perhaps 
the most interesting of the old Presbyterian Churches in Virginia. 
Howe's Historical Collection says that "the spot where Tuscarora 
Church now stands is the first place where the gospel was publicly 
preached and divine worship performed west of the Blue Ridge." 
And Dr. James R. Graham, of Winchester, in his book, now in press, 
The Planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia, has with 
great care and research developed the fact that still earlier there was 
a church and a settlement of Presbyterians on the south side of the 
Potomac, near Shepherdstown. As early as 1719, in the records of 
the old Synod of Philadelphia, there was a petition from the people 
of Potomoke, in Virginia, that an able gospel minister be sent to 

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settle among them, and the Rev. Daniel McGill reported, in 1720, that 
he had visited their people and "put the people into church order. " 
He had organized a Presbyterian Church. 

It was in 1739 that a petition came to the Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia from "the back pai 'z of Virginia," •'. e., from Augusta County, 
and five years later, in 1744, the Rev. John Thompson came and 
made his home in the upper Valley. In 1741 the Rev. Samuel Caven, 
supplying the churches in the lower Valley, went over to the south 
branch of the Potomac, in answer to earnest supplication from the 
land of the Van Meters. It was in 1738 that the Synod of New York 
petitioned the Governor of Virginia that the Presbyterians of 
Virginia might have "the free enjoyment of their civil and religious 
liberties." The author of the petition was the Rev. John Caldwell, 
who himself presented the petition, and then settled a number of 
Presbyterian families in the counties of Prince Edward, Charlotte 
and Campbell. He was the grandfather of John C. Calhoun, the 
statesman and jurist of South Carolina. In 1738, the Rev. James 
Anderson preached to the settlers of Augusta County, in the house of 
John Lewis, the first sermon between the Blue Ridge and North 
Mountains. And in 1740 the Rev. John Blair, at one time the Presi- 
dent of Princeton College, and father of Rev. John D. Blair, after- 
wards in Richmond, visited the people of the upper Valley and 
organized four churches— Forks of James (Halls, New Monmouth, 
now Lexington) Timber Ridge, New Providence and North Mountain 
(Brown and Hebron) — and from these have grown the numerous 
constellation we know as Lexington Presbytery. 

The Gordons of Lancaster. At the time, 1738, when Mr. 
Anderson preached in the home of John Lewis in Augusta, there 
came two Scotch gentlemen of wealth and standing, James and John 
Gordon, who settled in Lancaster County, on the Rappahannock River. 
About these pious and cultivated gentlemen gathered churches, and 
from them descended families, widely known and honored in Virginia 
to-day. James Waddell, the blind preacher, was their minister for 
some years. 

Hanover and Samuel Da vies. And about the same year there 
appears in history the remarkable religious interest in the county of 
Hanover, in connection with which were established "reading 
houses," where on the Lord's Day were gathered many who were not 
edified by the ministry of the Established Church. Without a minis- 
ter, they assembled for the reading of the Word and such good books 
as had come to them in the providence of God, especially Luther on 
Galatians. 

About the same year the Rev. George Whitefield, a Church of 



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England clergyman, a Methodist with the Wesleys, and yet a Calvinist, 
preached at Williamsburg with great power and fervor. The hand of 
the Lord was laid upon Virginia, and His spirit was moving to produce 
an awakening of evangelical religion. 

In 1743, Rev. William Robinson visited the Hanover people, and 
soon, in 1747, Samuel Davies came, a noble young minister, educated, 
able, eloquent, with a burning zeal for Christ and intense energy in 
propagating the Gospel and winning the people of Virginia to Christ 
and His kingdom. 

In 1755, the Presbytery of Hanover was organized, meeting in 
Hanover County, with Samuel Davies, John Todd , Alexander Craig- 
head, Robert Henry, and J ohn Brown. 

The Church of England was established by law in New York, 
Virginia and the Carolinas. "For many years," says an English 
chronicler of the colonial times, "in New York, Maryland, Virginia and 
South Carolina, the growth of the Presbyterian church was checked by 
persecution and intolerance. " In no colony were the laws as severe 
against nonconformity as in Virginia. The people of Eastern Virginia 
were largely the royalists or cavaliers who under the Commonwealth 
fled to Virginia. Loyal to the king and to the Church, they looked up- 
on all "Dissenters" as the enemies of both. The laws were most 
illiberal and grievous, and the oppression continued for a hundred 
years. They were required under penalty to attend the church services. 
They were forbidden to build churches or hold religious meetings. They 
were taxed for the support of the Established Church. Only clergy- 
men of that Church could officiate at marriages. Against this came 
the protest of Baptists and Quakers, asking for toleration. It is a 
long and painful story. It was the young Samuel Davies, who with 
manly courage and notable ability and eloquence, stood before the 
General Council at Williamsburg. Withstanding the renowned king's 
attorney, Peyton Randolph, he plead not for toleration, but for the rights 
of religious freedom, and won the admiration of the court and gentle- 
men of old Virginia. A little later Davies went to England, and 
before the king in council, obtained the decision that the "Act of Tol- 
eration" applied in the colony of Virginia (1748). 

Hanover Presbytery. The contention continued, and the Pres- 
bytery of Hanover, organized Presbyterianism, took up the conflict, 
which lasted through and after the Revolution, and won for their own 
people, for Virginia, and all the American States, the great battle of 
the separation of Church and State, and the rights of conscience, 
bringing into the world a liberty which is our most precious inheri- 
tance, and which can never be lost. This religious liberty the Presby- 
terians of Scotland and Ireland, of Holland and France and Germany 



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came to America to secure. They brought it with them in their Cal- 
vinistic creed. They brought in their Church order from Scotland, 
from Holland and Geneva a safe and regulated democracy. They 
brought from Scotland a representative form of Church government 
which elevated and inspired the people and made them great. They 
gave to the new and struggling colonies the civil and religious liberty 
which has been the foundation of the American States —and the rep- 
resentative and graded republican government which has protected 
the people and given unity and strength to the commonwealths and to 
the federal government. 

John Witherspoon. A great Scotchman, John Witherspoon, 
the descendant of John Knox, the President of Princeton, and signer 
of the Declaration, taught the sons of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, 
and what they had not learned from the Shorter Catechism, they 
learned from John Witherspoon. Among those who sat at his feet 
were men who wrote the Declarations of Augusta and Botetourt in 
Virginia, of Mecklenburg in North Carolina, and of Westmoreland in 
Western Pennsylvania. Caleb Wallace, from Witherspoon's class- 
room, became the pastor in Charlotte, and then in Botetourt. He 
wrote those petitions of Hanover Presbytery, which are among the 
great papers of American history. Wallace went, without the loss of 
his Presbyterian religion, to be the distinguished first Chief Justice 
of the State of Kentucky. 

All through these Presbyterian beginnings in Virginia are the be- 
ginnings of liberty in America. Francis Makemie, facing the anger 
of Lord Cornbury in New York, and going to prison for Christ and His 
people; Samuel Davies, pleading with surpassing eloquence before the 
Governor and Council in Williamsburg; and Caleb Wallace, presenting 
the petitions of Hanover Presbytery before the Colonial Assembly. 
These are historic pictures, heroic and inspiring. Virginia can never 
forget them. All the people of the land, eighty millions of them, are 
enjoying the fruits and blessings of their victories. 

Beginnings of Education. Among the beginnings are the first 
springs of education. The education of all the people is as truly the 
outcome of Calvinistic religion and the Presbyterian order as is civil 
and religious liberty and a constitutional republic. The author of the 
common schools of America was John Calvin. 

The companion and successor of Samuel Davies was the Rev. John 
Todd. In Louisa County, not far from the grave of Todd, is the sight 
of a classical school, taught by Mr. Todd, and at which James Madison 
and James Monroe and other notable Virginians were educated. Be- 



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cause of its rudeness and simplicity, the boys called it ' 'The Court of 
St. James." And when a Presbyterian Church was built near by it 
was called St. James Church. 

The Rev. John Brown had the first school in the Valley, from 
which came the Academy at Timber Ridge and Washington and Lee 
University. 

Among the earliest activities of Hanover Presbytery was the 
movement to found Hampden-Sidney College in the east and Wash- 
ington College in the Valley. And from these twin institutions grew 
the Union Theological Seminary, with its more than 1,000 who have 
preached the Gospel— at home and abroad. 

Dr. Rice and Foreign Missions. To Dr. John Holt Rice, a 
native of Bedford County, the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
in Richmond, and the founder of Union Seminary, is due the honor of 
the first call in America to the Church of Christ to be the living, 
organic, commissioned agent of Foreign Missions. It was Dr. Rice 
who taught the Churches of all denominations that it was the great 
office of the Church itself to carry the Gospel to every land, and 
preach the Gospel to every creature. 

To Dr. Rice and Dr. Baxter, of Lexington, and Dr. Speece, of 
Augusta, belong the credit of the first periodicals of religious literature. 

From the sanctified pens of Virginia Presbyterian ministers came 
some of the hymns which the Churches cannot and will not forget. 
Samuel Davies, in Hanover, wrote: 

Lord, I am thine, entirely thine, 

and Conrad Speece, of the Augusta Stone Church, wrote, 

Blest Jesus, when thy cross I view. 

They have gone out into the hymnology of all English-speaking and 
English-singing Christians, and are sung by devout men and women 
on every shore. 

What the Fathers Brought and Won. A brave and hardy 
people were our fathers. Leading their women and children, they pene- 
trated the wilds of the new continent. They felled the mighty forests. 
They fought with beasts. They drove back the cruel and treacherous 
savage. They built their first homes of the trees they had felled, 
and to them they brought their wives and little ones, their Bibles and 
their Catechisms, and little else save their faith in God and their 
strong hearts. They builded log churches and then log schools and 
log colleges. They fought the battles of the Revolution. They con- 
tended with proscription and intolerance, for inalienable rights, and 
established them forever. They founded a free Church in a free com- 



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monwealth. Shall they be forgotten, the pioneer fathers and pioneer 
mothers? Not while a drop of honest and filial blood runs in our veins. 

At an unmeasured cost they won and gave to us the liberties 
which are our splendid inheritance to-day. They gave us our inde- 
pendence of the old countries and our regulated democracy and consti- 
tutional republicanism. They gave us our schools and institutions of 
learning. They gave us oar churches, and bequeathed to us a religion 
whose strength is in the authority of an inspired Bible. They taught 
us that the chief end of man is to glorify God, and not man. 

Let us remember them with grateful affection and admiration. 
Let us thank God for the inheritance they bought at such supreme 
effort and sacrifice and peril. Let us be faithful to our trust, and 
keep our faith as a covenant-keeping people with a covenant-keeping 
God. Let us ask for the paths in which the fathers trod, ' 'lest we 
forget." And "not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name 
be the praise and the glory forever. Amen!" 



CENTENNIAL COMMUNION, BY REV. W. E. BAKER 

Let us now, as our sweetest service, exalt the name that is above 
every name. 

Singing— "Jesus, and shall it ever be." 

We are sometimes asked whether any will be finally lost. The 
important question is, whether any will be finally saved. There was 
not a gleam of hope or light on this subject in all the world, until 
God's purpose to save was revealed through his holy apostles and 
prophets. Let us repeat and emphasize the glorious announcement. 

Singing— "There is a fountain filled with blood." 

Introductory 
"Do this in remembrance of me." 

Many things might be remembered this day, but nothing worthy 
to be compared with the sufferings and death of our blessed Lord. 
These occupy large space in Gospel record and there is much to 
remember. All that came before was preparation for conflict and all 
that came after, exultation over victory. 

The enemy in the conflict was the wickedness in human nature 
concentrated and arrayed under the leadership of the god of this 
world. It would never have been believed that men were so wicked, 
if they had not been left for once to do just as their wicked hearts 
inclined. They bound, mocked, smote, spit upon, and crowned His 
head with thorns. No one can ever say that a ' 'more enlightened 



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people would not have been so cruel," for never was there a people 
that exceeded them in Bible-study, Sabbath observance, religious- 
training and Church attendance. 

The time set for this conflict may be stated with exactness. 

'Twas on that dark, that doleful night, 

When powers of earth and hell arose, 
Against the Son of God's delight, 

And friends betrayed him to his foes. 

Pilate and Herod, Jew and Gentile were thoroughly united, and 
evil was at its strongest. If they couldn't conquer Him then, no fear 
that they ever can. 

The Champion on our side was a new and marvelous personality, 
in whom was centered whatever was highest in God, and loveliest in 
man. He was the seed of the woman that was to bruise the serpent's 
head, the star to arise out of Jacob. "Beautiful morn star, by 
prophets foretold ; the Angel of the Covenant, who in the old time re- 
tained something of his glory, so that when he descended upon the 
mount it quaked greatly and burned with devouring fire, and when he 
appeared in the temple, its door post moved at his voice. The Cham- 
pion laid aside His glory when He became incarnate; for He never 
could have been arrested if the Father had sent the more than twelve 
legions of angels for His protection. A hand able to shake eight 
hundred thousand square miles of the earth's surface, as we ourselves 
have seen, never could have been nailed to the cross without its own 
consent. Therefore He shrunk Himself into a helpless babe and 
"being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with 
God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form 
of a servant and was made in the likeness of men, and being formed in 
fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross." That divine glory should have 
been so completely hidden was a mystery indeed. 

'Twas midnight, and, on Olives' brow, 
The Star was dimmed that lately shown. 

The issue in the conflict was whether this world should blacken 
into a hell, or brighten into a heaven. Satan, having laid claim to it, 
was bent on making it like the rest of his kingdom, and all wicked 
men unconsciously work for the same end, being led captive by him 
at his will. There have been nineteen great battles, each one of 
which has changed the history of the world; but these were mere 
skirmishes compared with Calvary. 

The weapons which our Champion used were love and mercy. 
It was love and mercy against swords and staves. If He could hold 
out in spite of everything they did to provoke Him, then no one, 



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though crimson and scarlet, need ever fear to come to Him. There 
was a stupendous effort to conquer our rebellious race without display 
of power and it succeeded. 

The preparation necessary was obtained by prayer. 

'Tis midnight in the garden now 
The suffering Saviour prays alone. 

We must remember that His human nature involved human weak- 
ness. His hands, His feet, His muscles, His nerves, His memory, 
His reason were not superhuman, but just like ours, and therefore 
under the greatness of the strain, He was in danger of collapse, faint- 
ness, insensibility, nervous prostration, derangement. These, while 
not sinful, might have destroyed the completeness of His victory. It 
would not have had a good effect, if He had burst into tears at sight 
of Mary, His mother, standing by the cross. We sometimes almost 
lose control, and the tears "in the voice break out into an open cry," 
but it is weakness. In order to the best impression Jesus must show 
Himself not only loving, but strong. Accordingly He gave Himself 
to prayer, and the greatest service prayer ever rendered was to our 
blessed Lord in His final struggle. This praying power did indeed 
dwindle into the slender thread of ' 'saying the same words, ' ' but that 
thread was never broken. He might have been caught asleep by the 
betrayers if sorrow had paralyzed Him, as it did the disciples. He 
was able to bear His cross for only a little time, but long enough to 
fulfill the Mosaic type. The crowing of the cock assisted Him in 
remembering Peter. Five timely words to friends indicated that even 
in the garden agony His balance was maintained. Nine answers to 
enemies disclosed His continued rationality, the closest logic appear- 
ing in every one of them. Ten movements of the body self -supported 
under chains, marked His escape from nervous prostration. Seven 
thoughtful utterances from the cross made it evident that He was not 
only conscious, but loving to the end; and when He cried, "it is fin- 
ished," prayer had enabled Him to confirm every type, fulfill every 
prophecy, perform every promise, remember every obligation, and 
gain a perfect victory. 

We remember that this conflict was voluntary, and on our behalf. 
He had power to lay down His life, and He had power to take it again. 
The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. "He saved others," 
said His enemies, and they could not deny it, for the blind, the lepers 
and the lame who had been healed, were there; but they thought 
they made a good point against Him, when they said 1 'Himself He 
cannot save." It was true, He could not save others, and at the 
same time save Himself. It was a dying Christ or a lost world. 



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We observe also the occurence of the supernatural while the 
struggle was going on. There was prophecy of the betrayal, and of 
the destruction of Jerusalem. The Roman veterans fell to the 
ground when they met Him at the entrance to the garden. The ear 
of Malchus at His touch was healed. The wife of Pilate was warned 
in a day dream to send a message to her husband. There was dark- 
ness over the whole land, the earth shook, rocks were rent, and 
attendant priests and Levites saw the temple vail rent from top to 
bottom. The mighty Maker was dying for man, the creature's sin. 
It seemed as though Nature were about to collapse under so great a 
strain. An event was taking place almost too great for so small a 
world as ours; certainly too great for the appreciation of minds as 
small as ours. 

We notice the gleams of victory beginning to appear even before 
the darkness passes away. Peter goes out and weeps bitterly; the 
penitent thief hears the assuring voice, ' 'This day shalt thou be with 
me in Paradise"; the Centurion and they that were with him, fear 
greatly, saying "truly this was the Son of God"; the multitudes who 
came out to Calvary, smote upon their breasts and returned. The 
saving efficacy of the cross was already working; the "Father forgive 
them" was too much for the hard hearts around; the "Lord remember 
me" awakened other thieves to prayer; the love of Jesus was proving 
mightier than the soldiers' spears. 

Forasmuch therefore as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, 
arm yourselves with the same mind. In partaking of these elements, 
we pledge ourselves to share in the Christian conflict, and arm our- 
selves with the weapons of the Prince of Peace. We too must say 
"Father forgive them," when they nail us to the cross by wicked 
scorn. We must endeavor to conciliate those who try to injure us, as 
Jesus gave the sop to Judas; when the highwayman robs us, we are 
to remind him that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin; when 
tempted to envy the splendors of wealth, we are to consider how 
"foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of 
man had not where to lay His head"; and when our bitterest sorrow 
comes, we are to exclaim submissively, "The cup which my Father 
hath given me, shall I not drink it?" 

Distribution of the Bread and Wine. 

Let us then shut the doors upon our Saviour and ourselves, sing- 
ing the sacramental song, 

According to thy gracious word, 

and answering each one the summons to discipleship by partaking of 
the bread and wine. 



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Concluding 

Instead of formal exhortation, I propose at this ending of our love 
feast, to indulge in something more familiar. 

Says the apostle, "We that are strong ought to bear the infirm- 
ities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." It seems to me that 
you have in an unusual measure obeyed this injunction. The strong 
among you show consideration for the weak; and the weak perhaps 
have been most forward in their welcome to Him who always took 
their side, wherefore as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk 
in this matter, we beseech you that ye abound more and more. 

And we caution the weak not to be too exacting — too ready to 
feel slighted, and to imagine that it might be better elsewhere. 
There are plenty of churches where all are weak, and if you should 
get into one of them, you would spend the rest of your days sighing 
after this home; and your plaint would be "How shall we sing the 
Lord's song in a strange land?" 

After long experience I am convinced that the effects of regular 
instruction and training are better than those of high-pressure 
methods in religion. 

A temporary is not as wonderful as a continuous revival. Grace 
limited to the individual is not as impressive as grace transmitted 
from Father to Son, and benevolent impulse is not as great a thing as 
a benevolent character; and when mercy is extended to a thousand 
generations (Deut. 7: 9), it is shown, beyond all contradiction, to be 
an attribute of God. It is the deep and permanent effects which 
most glorify God, and over these therefore we should specially 
rejoice. The successful revivalist, though he moved for a time in a 
whirlwind of fire, is not remembered in after years, as is the success- 
ful pastor. 

Charge to Pastor: Continue then my Brother to work for the 
Church in the way of scripture, and of your own convictions, and be 
not disturbed with fear, lest some should be dissatisfied with the 
immediate results. And do not use your own standard, to measure 
those who have not had your advantages. It would have greatly 
softened and sweetened my own ministry, if I had learned that lesson 
fifty years ago. 

Charge to Elders: It is your duty to see that the Church is 
governed by sober opinion, and not by popular clamor. It takes 
time for wounds to heal, and broken bones to knit. Church members 
cannot be too hasty in the use of means, but they must learn to be 



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patient in waiting for results. It will not do for every one in the 
congregation to think and speak and act as they please. Wreck has 
often come from the want of a firm and intelligent eldership. 

A word for self: When I received and accepted your invitation a 
year ago, I resolved that I would come not for show or attention, but 
that the visit might afford opportunity for such a demonstration of 
mutual fellowship and love, as would help the cause of God. The result 
has been, such quietness of mind and freedom from painful excite- 
ment as convinces me that it would be well for us to order all our 
arrangements for the future with a view to help the cause of God. 
After all there is no bond on earth like that which unites the disciples 
of Jesus. 

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of 
His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheri- 
tance among all them which are sanctified?" "And when he had 
thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they 
all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most 
of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no 
more. ' ' 

We might at this point give way to forboding and questionings as 
to the future, but let us rather dwell on present mercies, and end this 
service with a shout of triumph. 

Singing— "0 could I speak the matchless worth." 

Benediction. 

BABY ERSKINE IN THE SOUDAN 
ADDRESS TO THE SUNDAY SCHOOL, BY THE REV. W. E. BAKER 

Sunday School children are apt to think that they are too little to 
do good. This is a mistake, for most valuable lessons have come "out 
of the mouth of babes and sucklings." The baby Erskine went to 
Egypt when he was only eight months old. Of course his father and 
mother had to go along to take care of him. At the farewell meetings 
before starting he made the little speech which he had been taught, 
and it was always the same, "bye, bye," that was all he said. They 
crossed the broad Atlantic, steamed through the straits of Gibraltar, 
and Mt. iEtna, as they passed, gave them a grand display of fireworks 
as a salute. 

On the voyage the little missionary made his first converts to mis- 
sions. A lady and gentleman on board, so rich that they needed two 
maids and two valets to wait on them, took a fancy to the party. The 
lady sent her maids away and night and morning walked the deck 
with Erskine in her arms. When they reached Naples, the gentleman 



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said that if they would go with him to Florence he would introduce 
them to some wealthy Americans, who would probably do something 
handsome for the cause. The same God who heated the volcano can 
use an infant to touch and warm the hearts of millionaires. 

When Erskine arrived at Alexandria the kind missionaries there 
were very glad to see him and his parents. They thought that he 
looked very well; they hoped that he would do a great deal of good; 
they gave him some dates, just fresh from the stem. The little fellow 
looked up at them with a smile, took the dates and said, "Ta, Ta." 

On the way up the Nile, Erskine continued to make himself useful. 
An English officer of high rank, who occupied the best room on the 
little steamboat, gave it up to the young mother; and this was very 
important, because the distance they had to go was as far as from 
New Orleans up the Mississippi River to St. Paul; and the sand 
storms were often so fiery that they couldn't sit out on deck, and 
count the hippopotami eating grass at the edge of the river. Dolaib 
Hill, which was to be their home is near the country where the Queen 
of Sheba reigned at the time of Solomon. When they reached the 
mission station there, they were very tired, and neither the trumpet- 
ing of elephants or the roar of an occasional lion could keep them 
awake. Next morning there was a stir, for the report had gone out 
of the arrival of a white baby, the first white baby the people had 
ever seen, and as much a curiosity among them as a green baby would 
be among us. Soon visitors began to arrive, great, tall warriors, 
with their spears and war clubs, interested most in Erskine, who has 
always won them by his fearlessness, and who, as soon as he had 
learned to walk, to the great distress of his mother, taught him to 
dance, as they didn't know any better and never had anything to wor- 
ship but a cow. 

The baby Erskine soon engaged in Sunday School work and was 
the main attraction. He had his discouragements however; one boy 
would stay away and was eaten up by a crocodile, but the poor mother 
was quickly consoled by the present of a remnant of bright calico; the 
calico was very bright and the boy was a bad boy anyhow. 

Erskine 's next success was in a sewing class; he would go down 
under a palm tree and when the scholars gathered, his mother would 
bring out the needles and thread. She had received from this country 
a bolt of factory cloth, five cents a yard; and she taught them to make 
dresses for themselves, two yards each with a little pink around the 
neck; the only trouble being that the young ladies were so modest 
that it took them some time to get accustomed to so much finery. 

To make a favorable impression, upon the people in that country 
it is necessary to either fight them or feast them. So the missionaries 



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bought a cow, made it into soup, filled all their buckets and bath tubs 
and sent out invitations far and wide. It was a grand occasion and 
at the close the chiefs all came and acknowledged that, for once, they 
and their dogs had had enough. 

Erskine's influence was not confined to those of low degree. He 
was invited to the English military station, six miles distant, queens 
from Darf ur and Rordof an came to see the ' 'white child. ' ' Lords and 
ladies, pashas and beys, tied up their Nile boats in front of the house 
and enjoyed a taste of American waffles and wafers. Millionaire 
Hunt who wants to raise cotton in the Soudan offered to put new roofs 
on all the mission buildings. Rothchild, of Paris, and his son, hunting 
in the neighborhood, were glad to rest there. And they all left some- 
thing from their stores. It seems to be a Staunton First Church 
pound party out there all the time. 

Baby Erskine has had no reason to complain of the hardships of 
missionary life. He had for a time a namesake of the sister of Moses 
to keep off the scorpions and now a namesake of the mother of Jesus 
takes care of him, when there is no princess to dandle him in her arms. 
He is now three years old and has learned three languages, the 
English, the Arabic and the Shulla and can translate from one to 
another. He was invited to tea at the palace in Khartum and the Sindar 
would have been delighted to play a game of tennis with his mother, 
if he was not obliged just at that time to oversee the irrigation of 
several hundred square miles of desert; and the general thought of 
the people is that if such a babe should be brought all the way from 
far off America to make them good surely they ought to be good. 

It was supposed that if Baby Erskine was taken to the center of 
Africa, he would never be heard of again; but how famous he has 
become! His picture appeared in the child's paper of the American 
Mission in Egypt, was transferred to the child's paper of the United 
Presbyterian Church, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was the only pic- 
ture of the annual report of the board of missions to the General Assem- 
bly of that Church. Let us pray that the little missionary may not be 
exalted above measure. I am sorry to say that he already gives signs 
of this, and recently when walking in the great city of Cairo, he 
stepped so high that some one asked, "Who is that great man?" and 
some one answered, "Why, that is Pasha Erskine, son of the princess 
of Georgia, who comes from the great City of Staunton. ' ' (You 
know the people of that country are very fond of talking big) . 

You can never begin too young in doing good. There is a sense 
in which Egypt can now be called a Christian country. Fifty years 
ago only armed parties could visit the Soudan, now the savages have 
learned that Christian government is friendly and honest, and the un- 



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armed missionary with his wife and child, can travel for two thousand 
miles, from one end of the land to the other, in perfect safety. It 
has been discovered in that land that Christianity teaches better 
morals than Mohammedanism, and that is more merciful to women and 
children. The word of God is there, and every inhabitant can get ac- 
cess to it. 



CLOSING SERMON, BY REV. W. W. MOORE, D. D. 

Micali VI: 8. "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly 
and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God ? " 

In the rotunda of the Congressional Library at Washington stand 
eight colossal and stately statues which represent Commerce, History, 
Art, Philosophy, Poetry, Law, Science and Religion, each accompanied 
by a choice extract from some masterpiece of literature descriptive of 
that particular sphere of thought or endeavor. Above the noble figure 
which represents Religion, and which grasps in her right hand her 
illuminating torch, is inscribed this lofty sentiment from the prophecy 
of Micah which I have selected for our text this evening. It is the 
culmination of the glory of the National Library. There, high above 
all the deeds that men have done, and all the books that men have 
written, runs this immortal line from the Book which God has written, 
"What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love 
mercy and walk humbly with thy God." True watchword of all real 
progress. True climax of all human glory. It is the fitting crown of 
all that beauty and strength and truth. It will stand as long as the 
great building stands, proclaiming to the nation that which makes in- 
dividuals great and peoples enduring ; nay, it will stand for millions of 
years after the Congressional Library has crumbled to dust, as long 
as the Universe of God shall endure that truth will stand, proclaiming 
its sublime evangel of morality, benevolence and piety, and urging 
these commonplace virtues which are behind all real greatness, as 
cause is behind effect, and ranking faith in God and righteousness of 
life above material gain and temporal prosperity and intellectual 
achievements. It is a good thing, my brethren, and a thing for which 
thoughtful men may feel thankful, to have the paramount importance 
of Religion among all human interest thus conspicuously recognized 
and recorded in the noblest building ever erected by a great people ; 
for it is a thing which prosperous nations are prone to forget. 

If you have ever approached one of the old Cathedral towns of 
Europe from a distance, if, for instance, you have ever come down 
the Rhine on the steamer towards Cologne, or traveled through the 
long levels of Eastern England towards Lincoln, you will recall how 



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completely the Cathedral dominates the City. "The first object you 
catch sight of as you approach is the spire tapering into the sky, or the 
huge towers holding possession of the center of the landscape, majesti- 
cally beautiful, imposing by mere size among the large forms of nature 
herself. As you go nearer, the vastness of the building impresses 
you more and more, the puny dwellings of the citizens creep at its 
feet, the pinnacles are glittering in the tints of the sunset, when 
down below among the streets and lanes the twilight is darkening. 
And even now, when the towns are thrice their ancient size, and the 
houses have stretched upward from two stories to five, when the 
great chimneys are vomiting their smoke among the clouds, and the 
temples of modern industry, the workshops and factories spread their 
long fronts before the eye, the Cathedral is still the governing form 
in the picture, the one object which possesses the imagination and refuses 
to be eclipsed." This pre-eminence of the house of God among the 
houses of men is but the medieval symbol and expression of the 
dominance and supereminence of religion among all other human 
interests. If that be its proper place, then it is of the utmost import- 
ance to know what religion is. 

What do the Scriptures principally teach? The Scriptures princi- 
pally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God 
requires of man. Accordingly the two great outstanding doctrines of 
the Bible are the spirituality of God and the spirituality of Religion, 
and the two great corruptions to which all religion is exposed are Idol- 
latry and Formalism. The tendency to substitute images in the place 
of God, and rites in the place of righteousness. The necessity of some 
forms of worship for creatures of sense makes such a substitution pos- 
sible, the overestimate of such forms makes it certain. God met Israel's 
need of some outward forms of worship by ordaining the Levitical 
ritual ; but in doing so He was careful to guard against the abuse of 
these forms, and an exaggerated estimate of their value. When He 
gave them the Tabernacle, with its symbolic expression of the terms 
and forms of their communion with Him, He gave them also the Moral 
Law with its requirement in the first table of a spiritual worship of 
God alone without images, and with its requirement in the second table 
of righteousness in all the relations existing between man and man. 
When in the time of David the ark was brought up to Jerusalem, 
and the ritual of divine worship was established anew, the two Psalms 
written on that occasion, the fifteenth and twenty-fourth, both taught 
the futility of ritual without righteousness. ' 'Lord, who shall abide 
in thy tabernacle; who shall dwell in thy Holy hill? He that walketh 
uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his 
heart." 



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But, notwithstanding all these precautions, the theory of rites 
versus righteousness prevailed in Israel. Religion degenerated into 
religiosity. The people contented themselves with the punctilious 
observance of the forms of worship, the ablutions, the sacrifices, the 
festivals, while their lives were full of wickedness. The priests 
themselves in many cases yielded to and encouraged this divorce of 
morality from religion. It was one of the great works of the pro- 
phetic order to protest against this gross misconception of religion, to 
insist upon the inseparable union of true religion and true morality, 
and to assert the supremacy of the moral and spirituals above the 
literal and ceremonial elements of religion. Listen to them one after 
another. Samuel: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to 
hearken than the fat of rams." Jehovah says through Hosea: "I 
desired mercy and not sacrifice." Through Amos he says: "I hate 
your feast days. Though ye offer me burnt offerings I will not accept 
them. But let justice run down as waters, and righteousness as a 
mighty stream." To the same effect also he speaks through Isaiah 
(1:13-17) and Ezekiel (XVIII: 5-9) and in like manner through the 
Psalmists (LI: 16-17) and the wise men (Pro v. XV: 8; XXI: 3). So here 
Micah represents an inquirer as saying, ' 'Wherewith shall I come before 
the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before 
him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be 
pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of 
oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my 
body for the sin of my soiil? He hath shewed thee, man, what is 
good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to 
love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?" So in the New Tes- 
tament, Christ's warnings are largely against the ceremonial nar- 
rowness of the Pharisees and the ostentatious religionism which 
ignored justice and mercy. The apostle Paul says: "I beseech you 
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies 
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual 
service." No more dead sacrifices. Religion is the surrender of the 
will and the life to God. 

The world can never overestimate its debt to that great prophetic 
order which was crowned in Christ and is continued as to this particu- 
lar function in all true ministers of His Gospel till the end of time. If 
you would estimate aright the value of the Christian ministry and of 
the work which they have done among you for the last hundred years 
in this community and through this church, then do not forget that, at 
least as to this function, they are the continuators of that great order 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



of the prophets. They are called not to merely ritual acts but to 
teach and instruct, to hold before the people a worthy conception of 
religion and a lofty ideal of life. 

I repeat it is a good thing to have the prophetic conception of 
religion as against the priestly exalted before the view of our people 
in our national library; and it might have been done with even more 
emphasis and effect. 

What then is it that God requires of men above all else? To 
acquire learning? To attain renown? To accumulate wealth? To 
multiply and observe the outward forms of religion? Nay, "He hath 
shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of 
thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy 
God?" 

I. God requires us to do justly. That means to do right, to 
observe the second table of the law, to refrain from injuring others 
by word or deed in their persons, honor, estates or good name, to be 
kind, chaste, honest and truthful. Ruskin says, "Do justice to your 
brother (you can do that, whether you love him or not) and you will 
come to love him. But do injustice to him because you don't love 
him, and you will come to hate him." For, it is not enough to do 
right. It is not enough to be strong. Steel is strong, but it is also 
cold and hard. Warmth and tenderness are needed. And so we 
come to the next requirement. 

II. Love mercy. Mercy is compassion, forebearance, forgive- 
ness, love, helpfulness. It is the doing of acts of kindness willingly, 
cheerfully and without expectation of recompense. It is life thinking, 
toiling, suffering for others. And it is this that sweetens and 
enriches the nature and makes it attractive. Jesus Christ did justly. 
No false or impure word ever crossed His lips, no unkind or dishonest 
act ever stained His life, no evil thought or purpose ever found 
lodgment in His heart. But this moral supremacy is not the whole 
secret of His power. It is His mercy that makes Him the irresisti- 
ble magnet of men. 

But not yet is our definition of religion complete. We are to do 
justly and to love mercy, we are to obey our consciences and love our 
neighbors, we are to be true to ourselves and to our fellow men, 
but is that all? Does religion look only .outward, on the plane of a 
common humanity? Nay, it looks also upward. More fundamental 
than obedience to our conscience and mercy to our fellow men is faith 
in God. Do justly, love mercy, and 

III. Walk humbly with thy God. To walk with God is to have 
Him for our companion, to trust Him and love Him. In short it is 
what the New Testament writers call Faith. Justice and Mercy in 



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God's sense are impossible without this. The ancient doge of Venice 
was right when he built St. Mark's Cathedral and the Palace of 
Justice side by side. Religion and morality are inseparable. One is 
the root, the other is the fruit. In a recent controversy with Mr. 
Gladstone the late Prof. Huxley expressed great admiration for this 
noble definition of religion by Micah, and yet it is evident that he 
took no account of the last and greatest element in that definition, 
faith in God. "While he admits that religion has done much to 
elevate human conduct, he thinks that human conduct may now be 
safely trusted to go on by itself in moral evolution without any further 
interference of the idea of God at all. Is that what you think? Does 
the ship go on when the fires in the engine room are put out? No 
more will human conduct go on when the noble impulse of personal 
relationship to God is quenched. When the fires in the engine room 
are put out, the ship swings hither and thither in the trough of the 
sea, and it is drifted by the tide or it founders in the tempest; and 
human conduct founders when the soul of man is bereft of God." 
The individual exceptions which may be cited of men who have con- 
tinued to live correctly after throwing over their faith in God are only 
apparent. They are only what Mr. Balfour has called spiritual para- 
sites who live upon the enormous mass all about us of religious feel- 
ing and religious conviction. But the parasite dies when the larger 
growth from which it has drawn its life is destroyed. The Christian 
faith is the life breath of morality and philanthropy. This is no 
merely professional and ministerial view. James Russell Lowell, in 
an address following a noted infidel, said: "When the microscopic 
search of skepticism, which has hunted the heavens and sounded the 
seas to disprove the existence of a Creator, has turned its attention 
to human society and has found a place on this planet ten miles 
square where a decent man can live in decency, comfort and security, 
supporting and educating his children unspoiled and unpolluted; a 
place where age is reverenced, infancy protected, manhood respected, 
womanhood honored, and human life held in due regard; when 
skeptics can find such a place ten miles square on this globe, where 
the Gospel of Christ has not gone and cleared the way, and laid the 
foundations, and made decency and security possible, it will then be 
in order for the skeptical literati to move thither and there ventilate 
their views. But so long as these very men are dependent upon the 
religion they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may well 
hesitate a little before they seek to rob the Christain of his hope and 
humanity of its Saviour, who alone has given to man that hope of 
life eternal which makes life tolerable and society possible, and robs 
death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom." 



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The prophets insisted upon a religion which regulated conduct as 
distinguished from a mere religion of forms, but they were as far as 
possible from teaching that conduct could be effectually regulated apart 
from faith in God. 

Therefore, my brethern, as you have here for a hundred years 
steadily proclaimed this religion of justice and kindliness grounded in 
humble faith in God, and as you have thus, along with other Christian 
organizations of this community, contributed to its growth that which 
is after all of the most importance and value, so hold on your way for 
the future, calling men to the practice of justice and the love of mercy 
by pointing their individual faith to the Holy and Merciful God, with- 
out whose favor no individual or community can prosper. 



MRS. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BAKER (GUEST OF HONOR AT THE CENTENNIAL 
CELEBRATION), BY MRS. WILLIAM C. MARSHALL 

No history of the First Presbyterian Church, of Staunton, would 
be complete without some account of Mrs. William E. Baker, the wife 
of the beloved pastor, who for a quarter of a century served it so ac- 
ceptably. 

Evelyn King Baker is the daughter of the late Barrington King 
and of his wife, Catherine King, and was born at South Hampton, 
Liberty County, Georgia. When a young child, her father, with sev- 
eral other gentlemen from the low country, formed a colony and moved 
from their plantations to Roswell, Georgia, where they built Colo- 
nial homes, the most beautiful of which is Barrington Hall, built by 
Mr. King. This lovely home is the only one that is still in the hands 
of the family who built it, it being the present home of Mrs. Baker. 
When a girl of fifteen, Mrs. Baker was sent to a small school in Guil- 
ford, Connecticut, where she was educated. 

She was the only daughter in a family of seven brothers and was 
the companion and idol of them all. Her early girlhood gave promise 
of the lovely woman into which she developed, and the influence of her 
pious parents and their Christian home, fitted her for the place she so 
ably filled as a pastor's wife. 

She married Mr. Baker when quite young and went with him to 
Sacramento, California. This was in the days when one had to go by 
water to the Isthmus of Panama, and thence up the Pacific to California. 
They lived there about a year, during which time Mr. Baker's minis- 
terial work was that of a Missionary, as California was then an un- 
developed state. 

They returned to her old home at Roswell, Ga., and from there 
came to Staunton when their first child, Kate, was an infant. 



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Mrs. Baker came with her husband to Staunton in 1857 and 
during the full period their life in this Church she was ever the true 
pastor's wife. In church work she was a leading spirit, and a constant 
inspiration. In cases of sickness she lovingly administered and all who 
came under these ministrations give testimony of her comfort and 
help. 

To the poor and needy she always extended a helpful hand and her 
tender sympathy for every sufferer was heartfelt and sincere. Her 
broad hospitality was of the truest and best, and her greeting to 
strangers made each one feel welcome either in her church or home. In 
her home her devotion and affection were constancy itself. 

All the children in the congregation loved her dearly and the old 
and infirm were especially tenderly cared for by her. 

Mrs. Baker is possessed of graces that give her prominence any- 
where, and her strong personality and gracious manner win for her 
the love and honor of all. 

She now lives in the old home at Roswell, Georgia, and is happy 
in having with her her daughter, Kate and family, Mrs. Carolus Simp- 
son, who live with her there. This dear home is often filled with her 
children and grandchildren, and all the dear friends are there accorded 
the warm welcome they always received at her hands at the Manse 
in Staunton. 




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CHAPTER XVII 



A SERMON PREACHED BY THE PASTOR, REV. A. M. FRASER, 
D. D., SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1904, AS A CONCLU- 
SION OF THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

' 'Give ear, Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph 
like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine 
forth. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin and Mamasseh, 
stir up thy strength, and come and save us. 

Turn us again, God, and, cause thy face to shine, 
and we shall be saved."— Ps. LXXX : 1, 2, 3. 

THE explanation of this beautiful but peculiar lan- 
guage is found in the description which Moses gives 
us of the order of arrangement of the Israelites in 
their company in the wilderness. Whenever Israel broke 
camp and set forth upon a journey, the spectacle was 
interesting and imposing in the highest degree. 

While they were in camp, ' 'the tabernacle of the con- 
gregation" was set in the center of the host. One-third 
of the space within the tabernacle was partitioned off by 
costly curtains, to be reserved as the holiest spot among 
all the religious places of Israel. Within that holy of 
holies, there was complete darkness, and there was but 
one object of furniture, "the ark of the covenant/ ' The 
ark was built of the costliest wood and overlaid with gold. 
Covering the ark was the golden mercy seat, out of the 
ends of which rose the golden cherubim which over- 
shadowed it. The special dwelling place of God in Israel 
was the mercy seat between the cherubim. Only one man 
could enter that holy of holies except on the extraordinary 
occasions, to which I will presently allude. That man who 



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was permitted to enter was the High Priest. He could 
enter but once a year and then he must approach with the 
blood and smoking incense of atonement in his hands. 

Immediately around the Tabernacle was encamped 
the tribe of Levi. That tribe had been separated from 
the twelve tribes and set apart exclusively to religious 
duties. They were not subject to military duty and they 
had no inheritance of lands among the other tribes. 
When that tribe was withdrawn from the twelve, there 
were only eleven left, and in order to restore the comple- 
ment of twelve tribes, the tribe of Joseph was divided into 
two. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and 
these two sons were made co-ordinate in rank with the 
sons of Jacob, and their descendants were tribes of equal 
rank with the other tribes. These twelve tribes were 
arranged in the camp around the tabernacle in the form 
of a Greek cross, or St. George's cross. We may describe 
the figure as a square cross, that is, a cross whose two 
beams are of equal size and cross each other at right 
angles in the middle, bringing the whole cross within the 
perimeter of a square. In order to effect this arrange- 
ment the twelve tribes were divided into four groups of 
three each. To the east of the tabernacle were the tribes 
of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun called for convenience by 
the name of the leading tribe, "The host of Judah.' ' On 
the south were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad, called, 
' 'The host of Reuben. ' ' On the west were the three tribes of 
Ephraim and Benjamin, and Manasseh, called, "The host 
of Ephraim," and sometimes, "The host of Joseph," 
because Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph, 
and Benjamin being the younger brother of Joseph, it 
was proper to include him in Joseph's household. On the 
north were the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphthali, 
known as, "The host of Dan." 

When the time came to break up their camp and begin 
a march, God gave the signal by the removal of that 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



luminous cloud which rested on the roof of the tabernacle 
and between the cherubims, to a position in front of the 
host of Judah, and by its assuming the form of a pillar of 
luminous cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When 
that signal was given, Aaron and his sons went into the 
holy of holies took down the costly curtains which sepa- 
rated it from the rest of the tabernacle and threw them 
over the ark and the cherubim. Costly furs were thrown 
over these and over the whole was cast a cloth of solid 
blue. Then the golden candlestick, the golden altar of in- 
cense, the table of shew bread, the altar of burnt offering, 
were covered in a similar, manner, but with clothes of dif- 
ferent colors. The hangings of the tabernacle and of the 
court were taken down and reverently packed and then all 
the wooden and metal parts. The tribe of Levi was then 
summoned in different sections and to each man was ap- 
pointed some part of the sacred burden to bear. When all 
these preparations were complete, all eyes were directed 
to the pillar of cloud, and it moved off followed by the 
whole host. As Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh were 
the last of the tribes, bringing up the rear, all of this 
splendid scene was enacted in full view of them. The 
moving column followed quietly by the host, would remind 
an eastern man of the movements of a flock of sheep. 
There the shepherd does not go behind his sheep and drive 
them, but he goes before them. He calls them and they 
know his voice and follow him. They move gently, do- 
cilely, slowly, as their nature is, and if one is injured the 
shepherd quietly lifts it to a place in his bosom, and the 
flock moves on without interruption to new pastures. In 
view of these facts, does it not seem clear that the psalm- 
ist had these facts in mind when he wrote this prayer ? 
" Give ear Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph 
like a flock : thou that dwellest between the cherubim 
shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh 
stir up thy strength and come and save us. " 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, V A. 



When everything was ready for the march and all stood 
looking for the signal to move, as the pillar of cloud moved 
off, Moses, as majestic a man as ever sculptor conceived 
him, called aloud with that clarion voice that so often spoke 
to the multitude, ' 'Let God arise, let his enemies be 
scattered/' words that were afterwards made the founda- 
tion of one of the most spirited of all the Psalms, the one 
David composed at the return of the Ark from captivity. 
The Puritans were well versed in the scriptures, especially 
certain parts of them and were filled with their spirit. It is 
said that while Cromwell stood watching the battle of 
Dunbar, and saw the enemy begin to yield before his in- 
visibles, with nostrils distended and eyes dilated, and a 
face aflame with the enthusiasm of genius and religious 
zeal, he exclaimed 4 'They fly, they fly, I protest they fly, 
'Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered/ " 

When Asaph, the writer of this psalm lived, Israel had 
fallen on evil days. The people had forgotten the sover- 
eignty of God and all the claims of God: they had forgotten 
the Almighty power of God, the holiness of God, and all 
His wonderful goodness. They were immersed in shock- 
ing idolatries, loathsome immoralities, self-indulgence, 
oppression, cruelty and the perversion of justice. It was 
the age of mighty prophets, preachers of righteousness, 
who were sent forth by God to call the nation back to the 
worship of Jehovah. Some of them pleaded with the in- 
vitations of divine mercy, some of them wept over the im- 
pending doom, and some thundered the terrors of the law. 
Asaph was one of the faithful few, one of the seven 
thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. In his 
prayers he had found many an argument in the promises 
of God and many a plea in the stories of God's dealings 
with Israel in the past. Here he pleads with God by his 
wonderful revelation of his power and grace and glory to 
Israel in their journeys and asks that Jehovah will reveal 
Himself again as he had done in the olden time. Once 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



more give ear, shepherd of Israel, Thou that dwellest 
between the cherubim once more shine forth. Once more 
stir up thy strength before Ephraim, Benjamin and 
Manasseh and come and save us. 

Our Church is now entering upon a new century. For 
all practical purposes, this may be regarded as the first 
Sabbath of a new century, for on last Sabbath we cele- 
brated the centennial of the organization of our Church. 
I propose the prayer in our text as a suitable one with 
which to begin the century. Our circumstances are not in 
all respects like those of Israel that caused the psalmist to 
compose the Psalm, but the prayer itself is appropriate. 
It is not too fanciful to say we have been camping on the 
border line between the centuries, as we paused in our 
celebration to rest, to review, to worship, to be grateful 
and to forecast the future. As we take up our journey 
anew to-day, let us cry, ' 'Give ear, Shepherd of Israel, 
thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest 
between the cherubim shine forth. Before Ephraim and 
Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength and come 
and save us. Turn us again God and cause thy face to 
shine and we shall be saved.' ' "Let God arise, let his 
enemies be scattered/ ' 

As we this day pass over into the new century we 
might take up for ourselves the sentiment of Jacob when 
he crossed the Jordan after his long sojourn in Padan 
Aram, "With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now 
I am become two bands.' ' A hundred years ago this 
Church had a small membership, but since that time hun- 
dreds have passed this way in their pilgrimage heaven- 
ward. And to-day hundreds here and elsewhere, in our 
mission fields, at home and abroad are enjoying the minis- 
trations of the Gospel as dispensed by this Church. By 
the intelligence and piety and high character of many of 
the members of this Church it has occupied a position of 
commanding eminence. It has been a power for conser- 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



vatism and soberness in religion and for intelligent and 
earnest godliness, and it has exerted an influence of the 
most powerful and wholesome kind upon the community. 
It is right for us to ask ourselves, whether we exhibit 
to-day the same degree of consecration that our forefathers 
did, from which all these results have flowed and whether 
a hundred years from to-day the results of our steward- 
ship will be as great in proportion. The only answer 
which will satisfy our hearts is to make the prayer of 
Asaph. Let us analyze this prayer and learn the lessons 
it contains: 

I. It sets Salvation before us as an object of the 
greatest importance to be desired. "Give ear, Shepherd 
of Israel" and for what purpose? "Thou that dwellest be- 
tween the cherubim shine forth," and why? "Before 
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy 
strength" and wherefore? The answer to each of these 
questions is, "Come and save us." "Turn us again, 
God; and cause thy face to shine," and to what intent? 
* 'And we shall be saved. ' ' 

This sets the subject of salvation before us in the clear- 
est outline and with the most solemn emphasis. Our 
Church membership means nothing to us if we are not 
saved. The only thing that distinguishes the church from 
other organizations of men, and the only thing which en- 
titles it to live, is that it always conveys salvation to men. 
Let nothing obscure this great truth, that the object of all 
our church life and activity is to obtain salvation for our- 
selves and others. Of course there are other benefits de- 
rived from the Church but they are all incidental to the 
main benefit of the redemption of souls from sin. 

The Church may be regarded as a great social organi- 
zation. It is an institution in which kindred spirits find 
congenial intercourse, and those who have had fewer so- 
cial advantages are developed and refined. The assembling 
for public worship; the private meetings to plan for the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



work of the Church, gratify the social nature of man. But 
even when it has accomplished the utmost good it can, as a 
refining agency, if it does no more, it has come infinitely 
short of the mission for which the Lord ordained it. Again, 
the Church has been a great educator. For centuries it was 
the custodian and disseminator of learning. 

There is not the same need for it in that capacity to- 
day, but still it has not lost its prestige as the greatest 
patron of learning. But all its magnificent work of edu- 
cation is a trifling incident, as compared with the greater 
work which God has made it to do for men. The Church 
is a great philanthropic institution. It binds up the 
broken-hearted and proclaims liberty to the captives and 
the opening of the prison to them that are bound. It 
founds hospitals for the sick and the maimed, homes for 
the incurables and the infirm and asylums for the deficient 
and the unfortunate. It goes into the home and teaches the 
art of living and elevates the material environment of 
life. But with all of this, it has sadly missed its mission, 
if all of its activity terminates on the present life of man. 
Again, the Church is a great moral force. It creates 
a public opinion and puts a premium upon virtue and 
frowns upon vice, taking the place in a large measure of 
police regulations. But if the Church does no more than 
all these combined it has fallen short of the work for 
which God intended it. It reminds one of the comparison 
made by the distinguished preacher on last Sunday night. 
The prisoner has made a ladder to scale the walls of his 
prison, and it is good and substantial as far as it goes, but 
it fails to reach the top of the wall. If religion does not 
save the soul it fails to do its proper work. "What will 
it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his 
own soul?" What will it profit a man if he gain all the 
social refinement and the wealth and fame, and learning 
and health and good morals and then lose his own soul? 
If in the midst of all this, the summons should come, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



'This night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose 
shall those things be which thou hast provided ?" It would 
fill the soul with consternation. No, what man needs is 
the rescue of his soul from sin. He is lost and he needs 
salvation. He needs to be put in a right relation with 
God. He needs to have his sins forgiven, to be restored 
to the loving favor of God, to have his heart changed so 
that he will do right, not because he is afraid of punish- 
ment but because it is his heart's desire to be good and to 
please God. He needs to bring God into his life as his 
guide, his help, his comforter. 

Now as you look forward to the coming century, what 
is the good you expect to derive from the Church? What 
is your motive in wishing people to join the Church? Is 
it that you wish to see them fill out all the forms of a sym- 
metrical, respectable, social life? Is it that you desire 
more contributors toward the conventional objects of 
Church enterprise? Is it that you wish to gain an advan- 
tage in the competition with other Churches by large ad- 
ditions to your roll ? Or do you realize that life and death 
are in the balance, eternal life and eternal death? Do you 
wish to snatch these lost souls from ruin and crown them 
with immortality? 

An interesting young woman moved into the commu- 
nity once, and in a conversation with her about her Church 
relations she told me of the standing of various members 
of the family. Her father was a member of a particular 
Church and an officer, her mother was a member, her 
sister was a Sabbath School teacher. She ended by 
saying softly and with downcast eyes, "I am the only 
one in the family who is not saved." I could not but feel that 
the Spirit of God was in touch with her soul. She was not 
trying to conceal the truth from herself. She did not say, 
"lam not a member of the church," nor "I am not a 
communicant,' ' but she saw clearly the truth that it was a 
question of being saved or lost. Let us try by God's help, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



to set this truth before us in all our religious experience 
and service ; that what we need for ourselves, for our 
children and for our friends, and what we are to offer to 
this community and seek to spread abroad in the world is 
salvation. 4 'The Son of man is come to seek and to save 
that which is lost." 

II. It sets God before us as the sole author of salva- 
tion. "Give ear Shepherd of Israel." "Thou that 
dwellest between the cherubim shine forth/ ' "Stir up thy 
strength and come and save us." "Turn us again God 
and cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. ' ' It is 
just as necessary to know that God is the only source of 
salvation as to know the importance of salvation itself. 
The psalmist says, "Salvation is of the Lord.' ' He says, 
"In God is my strength/ 9 He says, "Except the Lord 
build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the 
Lord keep the city the watchman walketh but in vain." 
He said, "My help cometh from the Lord." He prayed 
that God would "Bow the heavens," to help men. The 
prophets prayed that God would "make bare his arm." 
Christ said, "Without me ye can do nothing." Paul re- 
sponded at a great distance, ' 1 can do all things through 
Christ which strengtheneth me." "Paul may plant and 
Apollos water but God giveth the increase." "What hast 
thou that thou didst not receive V 1 ' 'By the grace of God I 
am what I am." When we use the Lord's prayer, that com- 
prehensive prayer covering all that pertains to God's glory 
and to human need, we add, "For thine is the kingdom and 
the power and the glory forever." Every religious experi- 
ence and every blessing of religion is a direct gift of God. Do 
we want to be born again or want other souls born again? 
It is a translation from the kingdom of darkness into the 
kingdom of God's dear Son that we desire? John says we 
are born again. 1 'Not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, 
nor of the will of man, but of God. Christ said to Nico- 
demus, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 



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he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Is it repent- 
ance of sin, the decisive renunciation and forswearing of 
sin we crave? It is God who is said to "grant repentance" 
to men. Is it faith we wish? Paul says, "By grace are ye 
saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the 
gift of God." Is it to be brought into conformity to the 
will of God we want? "It is God that worketh in you to 
will and to do of his good pleasure. 99 Do we want guidance 
amidst the perplexing mazes of life? "If any of you lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally 
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. " Is it com- 
fort in affliction we need? God calls himself "the God of all 
comfort." Do we need strength, to bear life's burdens, 
to do its duties, to fight its battles? It is "the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ" who 'grants us according to the 
riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His 
spirit in the inner man." Do we want souls converted? 
"The increase comes from God." Let us never lose sight 
of this essential truth, that the salvation we need, is to be 
wrought by God if we are to have it at all. It is not the 
fine sermons (such as reminded the prophet of skillful 
playing on a musical instrument) that can do that myste- 
rious work which we call conversion. It is not fine music, 
nor beautiful decorations of the church, nor a comfortable 
building, nor sociability of the people. It is not argument 
nor persuasions, nor the excitement of fears, nor any 
methods of working up a revival. 

All of these, or any of these, may be blessed of a 
gracious God, but God may act independently of any of 
them. When a soul is brought into the kingdom of grace 
or advanced in it, it is always because Almighty and most 
merciful God has in His sovereign good pleasure chosen 
to act upon that soul and produce that change in it. 
Therefore prayed the psalmist, ' 'Stir up thy strength and 
come and save us." It is as if in the view of the psalmist 
God was asleep and needed to be aroused. But of course 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



that is only a vivid figure of speech, "He that keepeth 
Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. " All the psalmist 
means is to pray that God will make such a demonstration 
of His presence and power, as to make men sensible of it. 
If we would have Church success, if we would "Stand still 
and see the Salvation of God" we must have the strength 
of God, that strength which delivered Israel from bondage 
and led them through the wilderness and gave them the 
land of promise, and again and again stirred itself to help 
them in their national calamities, that broke out in the 
miracles of Jesus, that wrought the great miracle of con- 
version on Pentecost, that has so often convulsed com- 
munities and nations with revival glories, we must have 
that strength so uncovered that we may see it by faith. 

III. It sets prayer before us as the means by which 
we can secure the operation of that mighty power of God. 
The whole text is a prayer for that power and it teaches 
us to pray. Time does not admit of my going at length 
into this lesson. How the roll call of the saints of Holy 
Writ would demonstrate the power of prayer. Every 
character held up before us in the Scriptures for our imi- 
tation, was an illustration of the power of prayer. Elimi- 
nate from the Bible all of its prayers and all that was 
accomplished by prayer and what a wreck would remain. 
Open if you will the volume of God's providential dealings 
with His Church in all these centuries, and ask how much 
of all this was wrought in answer to the prayers of devout, 
heroic, and believing workers. 

As we now start our new century with the two lessons 
already learned, that salvation is the great object of our 
pursuit, and that God alone is the author of salvation in 
any life or community, how we would be in despair if we 
could not carry along with these two, the third lesson, that 
God is willing to be prayed to that He is willing to exert 
His Almighty power to work salvation in response to our 
prayers of faith. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Mr. Spurgeon, in many respects the greatest preacher 
of his age, was asked how he explained the success of his 
ministry. Many another had tried to explain it and 
various were the explanations ventured. We were curious 
to know his own explanation, for his success was a singu- 
lar phenomenon. His answer to the question was that 
he succeeded and multitudes attended his ministry and 
multitudes were converted because he had a praying con- 
gregation. Then let us pray God to come and save us. 

IV. May we not get one more helpful suggestion 
from the fact, that it is Ephraim and Benjamin and 
Manasseh that were to behold those displays of the glory 
and power and grace of God ? They were in the rear of 
the camp. May God so reveal Himself among us that the 
feeblest, the most ignorant and idle, the hindermost in 
the flock shall awake to His presence and respond to His 
call. 




[318] 



CHAPTER XVIII 



SERVICE IN HONOR OF LATE REV. WILLIAM E. BAKER 
HELD AT FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SUNDAY 
AFTERNOON, JANUARY 21, 1906 

A REMARKABLE service was held at 4 p. m. Sunday, 
at the First Presbyterian Church, as a memorial of 
Rev. William E. Baker who was pastor of the Church 
for nearly twenty-seven years, and who died at his home 
in Roswell, Georgia, January 4, 1906 ; remarkable in the 
uniform excellence of the music, in the tenderness and 
earnestness of the addresses and in the solemn impressive- 
ness of the whole service. 

The choir opened the service with an anthem, "Rock 
of Ages," followed by short scripture-reading by the pas- 
tor, Rev. A. M. Fraser, D. D., and the hymn, "The Sands 
of Time Are Sinking." The pastor then read passages 
from a letter written by Mrs. William E. Baker referring 
to the proposed memorial service, after which he offered a 
prayer. The choir and congregation then sang ' 1 Forever 
with the Lord." 

The pastor then announced that several gentlemen 
had consented to speak briefly of Mr. Baker's life in 
Staunton and called on Mr. Henry D. Peck, a ruling elder 
of the Church, who read a tribute to Mr. Baker, including 
some short letters written by others who had come under 
Mr. Baker's influence. 

The hymn, "Show Pity, Lord," was then sung and 
Hon. Joseph A. Waddell, ruling elder, was called on. Mr. 
Waddell had been very close to Mr. Baker, having been of 
the committee that extended to him the call in 1857, and 
having taken Mr. Baker to his house where he remained 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



for some weeks, the first home to entertain him in Staun- 
ton. Mr. Waddell with difficulty restrained his feelings 
as he recounted touching incidents in Mr. Baker's life. 
He dwelt on Mr. Baker's love of children, his deep concern 
for the poor, his practical help extended to them, his liber- 
ality and tenderness. It was a loving and tender tribute 
which carried conviction of its fidelity to truth to every 
heart. 

Capt. James Bumgardner was then called on, and pre- 
facing his remarks that he had, possibly with a very few 
exceptions, heard more of the sermons preached by Mr. 
Baker than any other person present, he dwelt on the ex- 
cellence, the beauty and the force of those productions, 
which Mr. Baker had delivered Sunday after Sunday in all 
those years, and the lofty character of Mr. Baker as a 
man. 

A quartet composed of Messrs. D. E. Euritt, J. J. 
Shirkey, R. E. Timberlake and F. R. Bear, all of whom 
had at times sung in the choir under Mr. Baker, sang 
"One Sweetly Solemn Thought," in a way to bring tears 
to many eyes. 

The pastor, closing the service, expressed the thought 
that it would be most appropriate for the Church to erect, 
in some enduring form, a memorial of Mr. Baker. 

The hymn " Servant of God, Well Done," was then 
sung by the congregation, and the benediction pronounced. 

The attendance was large, among the number most of 
the older members of the Church, and some friends out- 
side, who had known and loved Mr. Baker in the long 
years of his pastorate here. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



In August, 1908, a Bronze Tablet was erected in the 
First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia, bearing 
the following inscription: 



IN MEMORY OF 

&eb, MUtam CUtott Pafeer 

PASTOR OF THIS CHURCH 
1859-1884 

IF YOU ASK FOR HIS MONUMENT. LOOK AROUND 



[321] 



CHAPTER XIX 



RECOLLECTIONS OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SUN- 
DAY SCHOOL, BY FORMER PUPILS, WRITTEN 
BY REQUEST 



BY MRS. JENNIE McCUE MARSHALL 

MY EARLIEST recollection of the Sunday School was 
about 1878, when a little girl in the Infant room. 
Miss Charlotte Kemper, now a misssionary to 
Brazil, had charge of the room, but there were separate 
classes and I was in Mrs. Robert Hamilton's class of little 
girls. I remember very distinctly the little narrow benches 
on which we sat, with the slats far apart, between which 
our precious pennies were constantly dropping, for if one 
little girl's penny did not fall, another one's did. We were 
given little cards about an inch square, for attendance, and 
when five of these were received, we returned them and 
received a larger one. The inscription across the wall of 
the Infant room, ' 'Suffer the little children to come unto 
me; and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom 
of Heaven," was repeated each Sunday, and I never hear 
that verse repeated that I don't see those big bright letters 
of invitation to the little ones. We sang many hymns, but 
the one we sang most frequently, and which was my fa- 
vorite was "Precious Jewels." Everything was done for 
the interest and help of the little ones in that room. The 
windows between the two rooms were raised for the open- 
ing exercises, so we little folk felt that we had a part in 
the "big room" as we always called it. Rev. William E. 
Baker, then pastor of the Church, came to the School every 
Sunday, and never failed to come to talk with the little 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



children in the Infant room. We enjoyed his talks to us, 
and were much pleased to have him speak to each one, 
which he frequently did. 

After reciting the Child's Catechism, we were sent to 
the large room, and I was then in Mrs. Baker's class. 

Mr. William J. Nelson was superintendent, Mr. 
William A. Burke was librarian, Mr. Henry Walker, secre- 
tary and treasurer, and Mrs. Anna Fultz was the organ- 
ist. The teachers, I recall, during this time were Mrs. 
Virginia Thompson, Miss Mary Crawford, Miss Alice Reed, 
and Mr. Charles Grattan, all teachers of girls' classes and 
the boys' classes were taught by Mr. William H. Weller, 
Mr. Guy Cochran, Mr. Sommerville, and Mrs. W. A. 
McCue. Mr. Joseph A. Waddell had a class of grown 
people. 

One picnic I remember was at Fort Defiance, and one 
at Augusta White Sulphur Springs, I think we always had 
a picnic, and the same amount of fried chicken, lemon 
tarts, and cake, was consumed as is usual, on such occa- 
sions. 

The first Xmas entertainment that I remember was in 
the lecture room, and long tables were spread in the aisles 
and were filled with good things to eat. That is the only 
part of the entertainment I recall. We had a ' 'Jacob's 
Ladder" one Christmas. The ladder was against the door 
into the Infant room, which was then in the front of the room, 
as the platform was between the doors of the lecture room. 
The ladder was covered with evergreens, and the presents 
and goodies were hung on the rungs. Jacob distributed 
the gifts instead of Santa Claus, but who the venerable 
Jacob was, I fail to recall. 

We received dolls, horns, etc. , in those days, and one 
grown up boy tells me he received his first drum at that 
entertainment. We had magic lantern entertainments, 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and the classes had banners. One red satin banner was 
the one that all classes, tried to hold. What was necessary 
to the winning of the banner, I do not recall. 

After an absence from Staunton for a number of years, 
I again entered the Sunday School, and was in Miss Belle 
Bledsoe's class, and she was the best teacher I ever had. 
We learned a great deal of Scripture, the Shorter Cate- 
chism, besides taking great interest in the lesson. Mr. 
Guy Cochran was then superintendent and was a very 
active officer. 

We recited proof texts by classes, and woe be to the 
member of the class who failed to do his or her part in the 
recitation. 

I was later in a Bible class of Mr. Henry L. Hoover's 
together with about twenty other young ladies. 

Afterwards I taught a class of boys, under Mr. Peck's 
superintendency. 



BY DR. GEORGE S. WALKER 

By request, I submit my limited experience in Sabbath 
School. I have been so situated in life as to preclude the 
possibility of personal connection with Sabbath School and 
it has been a constant regret all my life. I consider it one 
of the most important adjuncts or branches of our Church. 

It is the root or hope and offspring of the Church. 

As its root, it is the true source of its life, from which 
the Church is principally built up and is the true hope of its 
existence. 

In conjunction with Christian home training, its im- 
portance cannot be overestimated. And like home train- 
ing it comes at a critical period of children's lives, a time 
when their lives are not harrassed with the cares and trials 
of the world and when their young minds are more recep- 
tive and easily impressed by the good things of God's 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



word; and I believe the experience of every one who at- 
tends Sunday School will testify to its good and lasting im- 
pressions. 

Seed sown in this way therefore falls in good ground, 
and springs up and brings forth abundant fruit to the 
Lord. 

It is impossible to estimate how fully it permeates the 
whole future life, and in how many cases its effect are man- 
ifested. To illustrate, I will recite one instance: 

There were four young men who went west and en- 
gaged in the cattle business. They lived together, and 
being separated from civilization and for want of enter- 
tainment and amusement began to play cards at night. 
It became a little monotonous, so they spiced it with a little 
betting, which grew to be a great evil, as little sins con- 
stantly indulged in do, and gambling became a nightly 
practice. 

One night, as they sat around the table and while the 
cards were being shuffled, one of them leaning back on his 
chair began humming a hymn. One of the others had 
picked up his cards when all at once he threw them down 
again, saying, "I am done, I'll never play cards anymore, it 
is wrong and sinful. I remember that hymn as the first one 
I ever learned at Sunday School, and it recalls my home, 
my parents, and my Sunday School and henceforth I am 
going to lead a better life." And he became an earnest 
Christian. 

My first experience in Sunday School was of course 
when a child, and at the Old Stone Church, near Fort Defi- 
ance, Augusta County, Virginia, established over 150 
years ago, and then under the pastorate of Rev. William 
Brown, D. D. I never was much of a school boy, but I 
became fond of going to Sunday School. 

My father lived on a farm about three miles from the 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



church. The children lived at a distance of from three to 
six miles from the church and on that account the school 
was suspended during the winter months. 

During the session the School was well attended, not- 
withstanding the distance to be travelled and oftentimes 
bad weather. Everybody came on horseback. Parents 
came as a Christian duty and brought the children. It was 
surprising with what interest and eagerness they all came. 

There were few commentaries on the Bible in those 
days and we had but few Sunday School papers, no quar- 
terlies, no Earnest Worker or anything of the kind to aid in 
teaching and studying the Bible. Teachers would read a 
portion of scripture and explain it. 

The pupils were required to memorize some of the 
Bible and some good old hymns and the catechism was thor- 
oughly taught. 

Another feature, different from the custom nowadays, 
was that the children stayed for preaching. Some and 
probably a good many of the smaller ones, would nap 
during the service, which did not annoy the pastor or 
people. They were under good influences and were away 
from home and out of mischief. One of the happiest recol- 
lections of my life are the services of that old Church and 
attendance of Sunday School. After going from home to 
school I have not been able to attend Sunday School ex- 
cept at intervals and as a teacher. 

We should be thankful to our Heavenly Father for the 
Sunday School, where the teacher can aid the parents in 
bringing up the children in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord. 



BY HON. JOSEPH A. WADDELL 

As far back as my memory extends there was a Sun- 
day School in connection with the Staunton Presbyterian 
Church. There is no record to show when or by whom it 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



was begun. I was a pupil as soon as I was old enough to 
go to church, but I can recall very little about the school. 
It was held Sunday morning in the audience room of the 
Church. There was no lecture room, or other room. The 
pastor of the Church was the Rev. Joseph Smith, father of 
the Rev. Dr. James P. Smith, of Richmond. 

I cannot recall who was superintendent of the School 
until years after my entrance as a pupil. One of my first 
teachers — if not the very first— was a young man named 
Charles Huff, of Winchester, nephew of Captain John C. 
Sowers and a pupil of the Rev. Mr. Thatcher, at the 
Academy. After him, my teacher for a time was Mr. John 
J. Craig, a promising young lawyer and devoted church 
member. I do not remember anything about the prelim- 
inary exercises of the School; of prayer and singing; nor can 
I recall what lessons the pupils learned, but my impression 
is that we used the Bible Question Book, issued by the 
American Sunday School Union. I am quite sure that I 
and my class did not commit texts of Scripture nor the 
catechism. 

There was a library at an early date, and the earliest 
librarian, I recall was a young man named William Pax- 
ton, a nephew of Mrs. Alexander S. Hall. 

It is strange that I remember only one boy who was 
in the class with me. My acquaintance with him ripened 
into friendship and continued during his life. He lived in 
Lynchburg many years, then in Richmond and finally spent 
some of the last years of his life in Staunton. I refer to 
the late Col. John C. Shields. 

From the time of Mr. Craig, Mr. Paxton and John 
Shields, my memory is utterly at fault. I ceased to be a 
pupil in 1840, when I went to College at Lexington. Some- 
where between 1835 and 1845, the Superintendent was 
Captain Kenton Harper. 

Subsequent superintendents as far as I remember were 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



John L. Campbell (afterwards professor at Lexington), 
Hugh J. Crawford, John Wayt, Joseph A. Waddell, William 
J. Nelson, Henry D. Peck and C. R. Caldwell. 

Until a comparatively recent date the School had no 
organ and there was often a difficulty in regard to music. 



BY MRS. FANNIE BAYLY KING 

When I first remember our Sunday School, Mr. J. 
Addison Waddell was superintendent and Mr. H. A. 
Walker, librarian and treasurer. I cannot recall the name 
of the secretary. Mrs. Anna Fultz was organist and Mr. 
John W. Alby led the singing. The seats faced the doors 
and the platform and desk stood in front of the west 
window. A little later, the Infant room was cut off from 
the main room and the seats were turned around to face 
the east. 

Rev. William E. Baker, who was our pastor at that 
time, announced one morning to the Sunday School that he 
would have a surprise for the scholars the next Sunday. 
The children came full of expectancy to find that he had 
put texts over each of the windows; and over the door, 
leading from the Sunday School room to the pulpit, was in- 
scribed the words, "Hear ye Him." Not long afterwards 
Mr. Baker in some way was locked behind this door and 
it was more than an hour before anyone heard his lusty 
calls and came to his release. 

Mr. William J. Nelson was the next superintendent 
and Miss Sarah Wright had charge of the Infant room. 
Mr. William A. Burke was made librarian to succeed Mr. 
Walker who had severed his connection with the First 
Church to join the Second Presbyterian Church. 

For a long time Miss Mary Crawford (afterwards Mrs. 
Darrow) was the organist. She was succeeded by Miss 
Lelia Burdette who was in time succeeded by Miss Nannie 
Gilmore our present organist. 

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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



For a number of years, Mr. J. M. Brereton has aided 
the music with his cornet and at intervals we have had 
more or less of an orchestra and more recently, though the 
efforts of Miss Edmonia Smith, a choir has been organized 
and is now doing splendid work in adding to the spirit of 
the music and the enjoyment of the service. 

Mr. Guy Cochran succeeded Mr. Nelson in the office 
of superintendent; and Mr. H. D. Peck was his successor. 

The teachers I can remember are Mrs. Davis A. 
Kayser, Mrs. Leckey, Miss Alice Reid (now Mrs. Plummer 
' Bryan) Mrs. William E. Baker, Mrs. G. G. Gooch, Mrs. 
William J. Nelson, Mr. Frank West, Dr. Newton Wayt, Mr. 
John Murray, Mr. Henry L. Hoover, Dr. H. M. Patterson, 
and Miss Helen Reid; and in more recent years, I recall 
Miss Rebecca Young, Miss Bessie Young, Mrs. C. R. Cald- 
well, Mrs. E. B. Lipscomb, Mr. Taylor McCoy, Mr. Tully 
Woodhouse, Mrs. G. D. Euritt, Mrs. Kate Nelson Stout, 
Miss Mary Cameron, Mr. Herbert J. Taylor and Miss Lelia 
Burdett. Mrs. R. E. Timberlake and Miss Maggie 
McChesney each had charge of the Infant room for a num- 
ber of years, and for a short while it was presided over by 
Mrs. Annie T. Peale who was succeeded by Miss Natalie 
Hogshead. Following her came Miss Mary Yost who was 
principal of this department for a few months. Miss 
Theresa Haislip is now the head of this department. The 
first secretary I remember was Mr. J. J. Shirkey. Dr. S. 
H. Henkel succeeded him as secretary and held the office 
for a number of years. Mr. C. S. Hunter, who is the present 
secretary, took his place. For several years we have had an 
assistant secretary. Mr. Frank Drumheller at one time 
held this position and Mr. J. M. Bratton is at present our 
very efficient assistant. After Mr. Walker's return to our 
Church, he was again made librarian and treasurer. 
After several years he gave up the position of librarian, 
but continues to hold the office of treasurer. 



[329] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



For a short period Mr. H. Clay Miller acted as librarian; 
Mr. Roy Kyle now fills that position. 

The seats in the lecture room have again been changed 
facing south this time, and Mr. Waddell tells me that they 
were originally arranged this way. 

Mr. C. R. Caldwell, the present superintendent of the 
School, was elected to that office by the Session during or 
about 1900. 

Mr. J. N. McFarland was for years assistant superin- 
tendent. Dr. J. B. Rawlings succeeded Mr. McFarland 
and is our present assistant superintendent. 

Mrs. J. A. Waddell conducts a Teacher's meeting on 
Saturday at 11.30, at the Church Parlors, for the study of 
the lesson. 

A Home Department, with Mrs. Howe Cochran as 
superintendent, was organized several years ago and is 
still maintained. There are about one hundred members 
in this Department now and Mrs. S. H. Bell is the super- 
intendent. 

A Cradle Roll Department has been organized and 
Miss Nettie Smith is at present in charge of the work. 

For two years the collections of the school have been 
devoted to the various benevolent causes of the Church, 
exclusively, and the Church has supplied out of its 
treasury, funds, to cover the expenses of the School. 



ROSTER OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL 
DECEMBER 31, 1908 

OFFICERS 

(8) 

Caldwell, C. R Superintendent 

Rawlings, Dr. J. B Assistant Superintendent 

Walker H. A .Treasurer 

Hunter, C. S .Secretary 

Bratton, J. M Assistant Secretary 



[330] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Kyle, Roy Railey Librarian 

Gilmore, Miss Nannie Organist 

Brereton, J. M , . Cornetist 

TEACHERS 

(23) 

Coff, Miss Margaret Junior Department 

Edmondson, Miss Lucy Senior Department 

Edmondson, Miss Gertrude Intermediate Department 

Gilkeson, M. F Junior Department 

Gilmore, Mrs. J. H Intermediate Department 

Haislip, Miss Theresa Superintendent Primary Department 

Hoge, Miss Bessie Junior Department 

King, Mrs. Wm. Wayt Junior Department 

Landes, W. H - Senior Department 

Lucas, Mrs. J. W Senior Department 

Pancake, Miss Emily Assistant Primary 'Department 

Mohler, Miss Bessie Assistant Primary Department 

Patterson, Miss Elsie M Intermediate Department 

Peck, H. D Junior Department 

Rawlings, Mrs. J. B Senior Department 

Russell, Mrs. T. H Junior Department 

Smith, Miss Edmonia Senior Department 

Smith, Miss Anna Assistant Primary Department 

Smith, Miss Nettie Waddell Junior Department 

Timberlake, Miss Josephine Junior Department 

Waddell, J. Addison. Senior Department 

Waddell, Mrs. J. Addison Senior Department 

Walker, Dr. George S Senior Department 

SCHOLARS 

Senior Department 

(60) 

Allen, Jane McClellan Bear, Roger Jones 

Black, Garrett Gooch Brown, Mary Rebecca 

Baxter, Horton Crawford, H L 

Bratton, Clyde Cox, Samuel 

Berry, Dorothy Belt Day, Frona May 

Bell, Sarah James Dixon, Effie Virginia 

Bell, Elizabeth Arbuthnot Easley, Bessie 

Bear, Janet Edmondson, Edwin R. 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Fraser, Douglas DeSaussure 
Francisco, H. C. 
Francisco, Genevieve Blair 
Faw, George Rouss 
Feamster, R. M. 
Firebaugh, W. M. 
Firebaugh, Annie Florence 
Fulton, James Fairfax 
Fulton, Nannie Brownlee 
Flummer, Lue Emma 
Gilkeson, Janie Hale 
Gilmore, Nannie (counted with 

officers) 
Harris, Susie 
Hoge, Thomas B. 
Hoge, A. M. 
Hoge, H. B. 
Kinney, Mrs. Edward 
Kimler, J. R. 
Kyle, D. M. 
Lang, Irma 

Landes, Bessie Wallace 
Lambert, Agnes Morton 



Livesay, Edward Ernest 
Long, Clarence Carpenter 
Myers, Lititia Marie 
Pancake, Elizabeth Gilkeson 
Pancake, William Calvin 
Palmer, Nellie 
Rawlings Anna Louise 
Rutherford, Lottie 
Speck, Rachel Margaret 
Switzer, Virginia Watson 
Swisher, Margaret 
Silling, Mrs. John T. 
Smith, Bertha May 
Steele, Mrs. Lawrence B. 
Tabb, Margaret Argyle 
Terry, George Aubrey 
Timberlake, Elizabeth Hart 
Timberlake, Nannie Fauntleroy 
Tilman, Henry Overton 
Walker, Naomi Robson 
Weller, William 
Wood, Nellie Thompson 
Ying, Lau 



Intermediate Department 



(22) 



Brown, Thomas Rush 
Crawford, Dorothy 
Crawford, Annistine 
Crawford, Mildred 
Curry, Eleanor May 
Faw, Elizabeth 
Garber, Helen 
Holliday, Isabel Painter 
Hoge, Charles Kerr, Jr. 
Lang, Henry L., Jr. 
Lyle, Hugh Frank 



Lyle, Joe Ryan 

Miller, Mary 

Moore, Helen Gibbs 

O'Rork, Lelia 

Paine, Lucile Howard 

Rosenberger, James Thorn 

Tribbett, Daisy Ott 

Tribbett, Virginia 

Walker, Moffett Miller Robson 

Walker, Margaret 

Yeago, Emma 



Junior Department 

(51) 



Brandeburg, Rudolph Willoughby 
Bell, Hallie Preston 



Bell, Mary Lou 

Berry, Winifred Reynolds 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Brereton, Edgar Duffield 
Brereton, Rebecca May 
Brown, John Richard 
Caldwell, Elizabeth 
Caldwell, Allen Houchens 
Cochran, Edna Stephenson 
Cochran, Mabel Lucile 
Cochran, Ellen Irene 
Curry, Constance Dana 
Cunningham, John Bryan 
Day, Verner 
Day, Ruth Harland 
Effinger, Katherine Taylor 
Fraser, Jean Blanding 
Ferguson, Milton Winter 
Garber, Elizabeth Hanger 
Garman, Forrest 
Greathead, Robert Newton 
Greathead, Carroll D. 
Glenn, Minnie Ola 
Hanger, Mary Preston 
Hanger, Charles Philip 
Harris, John Craig 

Young, 



Hoge, Evelyn Bayly 
Hunter, Charles Strickler, Jr. 
Lang, Helen 
Livick, Jackson 
Marshall, William McCue 
Miller, Leola Anna 
Moore, John Edwin 
Myers, William Henry Bryan 
Nelson, Clara King 
Nelson, Thomas Rodes 
Nottingham, Margaret 
Payne, Philip Marshall 
Paine, Howard Alexander 
Porter, John Miller 
Rawlings, Herbert Sidney 
Rodgers, Rachel 
Rutherford, James Coyner 
Shirkey, Elizabeth 
Southard, Monroe 
Tribbett, Anna Wilson 
Walker, Alex 
Woodson, Fred Edgar 
Young, Frank Marshall 
Isabel Nelson 



Primary Department 



Baugher, Meredith Fletcher 
Brereton, Munford Joseph Moffett 
Brigstock, Horace Dunbar 
Brigstock, Jack K. 
Brubeck, Charles Arnold 
Cochran, Hunter Raymond 
Hanger, Ralph Pierce 
Hospital, Joe Oliver 
Jones, Clarence Chenoweth 
Lee, Frank Marshall 
Mauzy, Courtney 
Miller, Harvey B. 
Mohler, Francis 
Olivier, Warner Lewis 
Opie, John, Jr. 



Boys 
(30) 

Paine, Kenneth Ast 
Paine, Wilmer 
Rodgers, Charles William 
Rodgers, George 
Rodgers, William Craig 
Rosenberger, George Spitler 
Rosenberger, Warren Shelton 
Sownes, Howard 
Sownes, Lacy 
Shreve, Carl 
Shreve, Tom Harry 
Silling, John Ralston 
Sproul, Hugh Bell 
Tannehill, Joe Bowling 
Timberlake, Landon 



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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



Primary Department 



Baugher, Iva Clinton 
Bear, Katharine Russell 
Bell, Margaret Kent 
Blancow, Helen Elizabeth 
Brereton, Ruth Elizabeth 
Campbell, Ruth Carnegie 
Cochran, Isabel Mary 
Curry, Dorothy 
Day, Rena Meade 
Fulton, Ruth Givens 
Greathead, Eleanor Robinson 
Greathead, Virginia Marshall 
Hanger, Lelia Burdette 
Harris, Margaret 
Haskins, Grace 
Hogshead, Ann Archer 
Mercereau, Dorothy W. 

Yost, 



Girls 
(35) 

Murray. Frances Dunbar 
Nance, Willie Vaiden 
Olivier, Elizabeth Grattan 
Opie, Eleanor Cameron 
Parkins, Virginia 
Shreve, Lizzie May 
Shreve, Pauline 
Rutherford, Marguerite 
Sprinkel Mary Jeanette 
Sproul, Eugenia 
Sproul, Harriet Erskine 
Southard, Virginia 
Tribbett, Jean Alexander 
Tribbett, Mary Spencer 
Wallace, Marion 
Walker, Ann Byrd 
Walker, Margaret Henry 
Merrill Cushing 




[3341 



CHAPTER XX 



THE LAST WORD 

I ASKED for the privilege of writing this final para- 
graph. Without disclosing the nature of its contents 
I promised to assume entire responsibility for it. My 
object is to give in a few lines some account of the man 
who has given us this book. 

The title page shows that the book has been ' 'compiled 
and arranged ' ■ by Mr. Arista Hoge. Mr. Hoge has been 
a deacon in the First Church since 1880 and he has been 
the treasurer since 1885. Paul highly commends those 
deacons "who have used the office of a deacon well," and 
it is often remarked in these modern times that a good 
deacon can do as much for the success of a church as any 
one connected with it. Mr. Hoge fully illustrates this. 

The improvement of the financial interests of the 
Church has been in a very large measure the result of his 
intelligent, devoted and tireless efforts. He has accom- 
lished it chiefly by keeping the Church informed as to 
what it is doing and what is expected of it. At intervals, 
as occasion requires, he issues printed reports, not merely 
setting forth the figures, but also in a judicious manner 
putting before the congregation arguments and exhorta- 
tions in the form of appropriate and forcible quotations. 
This is always done in a most pleasing style that arrests 
attention, and never offends. 

After serving the Church as treasurer for fifteen 
years he published a financial statement covering the en- 
tire period, accounting for every cent he had received 
within that time, showing from what source it had come 



[335] 



FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, STAUNTON, VA. 



and for what purpose it had been used. His modesty 
always prevents him attaching his name to reports of this 
kind. 

In addition to conducting the finances of the Church, 
he has taken the most active interest in keeping the ma- 
terial property of the Church in a substantial and attrac- 
tive condition. He gives his time freely to the oversight 
of any improvements of the Church building and grounds 
and of the manse property. All of this service he renders 
without any personal return except the gratification of 
seeing the work well done and the consciousness of the 
gratitude and affection of his fellow members. 

It is safe to say that no church ever had a treasurer 
who was more active and efficient or who was more uni- 
versally acceptable to the people. 

The issuing of this book, so replete with information 
of congregational (and even wider) interest, is a fitting 
crown of his long and invaluable service. 

A. M. Fraser. 




[336] 



r 



